Things Can Only Get Better
by NiciCool
Summary: Finished! AU. Set during the summer before Harry's fifth year. Includes some mystery, violence, and a girl with a very large temper. Sirius, Remus, and someone new! RR but no flames please, cc welcome. Warning: child abuse.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: AU. Set during the summer before Harry's fifth year. Includes  
some mystery, violence, and a girl with a very large temper. Sirius Black,  
Remus Lupin, Harry Potter, and someone new! Please review, but no flames  
please. I welcome constructive critizism. Warning: child abuse, and there  
may be mentions of rape.  
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling and W.B. own all spells, characters, or other  
things you may recognize. I own Reanna Pierce, and Reanna Pierce only.  
Please do not sue me. :-)  
  
Chapter 1  
Harry Potter ran outside quickly, stumbling on his feet. His back and  
chest seared with pain after a beating, and the rest of his body ached.  
Gasping, he kept running in fear. He had been told by his beefy uncle to  
go to football practice, but he made the mistake of asking why. In  
response he had been thrown down the stairs and against the wall a few  
times and received several strokes of a belt. He was smart enough to go  
without question after that, and was now sprinting for fear of his uncle  
deciding to punish him more. Finally, his injured ankle gave way and he  
came crashing down onto the hard sidewalk. He groaned in pain and tried to  
sit up, but he was in agony.  
"Harry!" A voice cried. "Harry, are you all right?"  
Hands helped him up, but he could not hold himself on his own feet. He  
recognized the voice, but did not have the energy to answer the person.  
Instead he smiled slightly and turned toward them. A girl with raven black  
hair and green eyes looked at him worriedly. She was slightly taller then  
Harry, and had a forming bruise on her face.  
"Hey, Reanna." Harry said hoarsely. "Thanks."  
"What happened? No, wait; don't tell me, it was you're uncle." She said  
grimly as Harry was about to open his mouth then closed it. He nodded.  
"God won't he let you be? I thought you had an escaped convict for a  
godfather or something that he was threatened by?"  
"He doesn't believe me anymore." Harry said, frowning. "Says I don't even  
have any friends in that 'pretend, freak world' of mine. Doesn't even  
believe that I have a godfather, let alone one who is dangerous."  
"He has not gotten as bad as he used to be, has he?" Reanna asked, biting  
her lip. Harry hesitated, and she swore under her breath.  
Reanna had lived by Harry for as long as he could remember. Before  
Hogwarts, she was the only friend Harry had and the best one as well. She  
knew almost everything about him, as did he about her. She was a nice  
girl, quite polite and calm, and she was much fun to be around. However,  
when something hit a nerve, she exploded. Something had been 'hitting a  
nerve' with her for a long time now, and Harry rarely saw her completely  
happy anymore.  
What was hitting her nerve was Harry. It was not anything he was trying to  
do, or even something he was capable of stopping, and it was not actually  
him that she was mad at. No, it was his uncle. She had found out about  
his beatings when she went over to play when they were about four. His  
uncle, Vernon, had answered the door and asked what she wanted. She asked  
to play with Harry, and he basically exploded. He yelled at her and told  
her that he was not home and she was not allowed to play with 'that freak'.  
Once he had slammed the door shut in her face, Reanna, being only four  
years old, stood quite shocked. Then she heard the sound of a belt and  
fists, and of cries of pain. She knew the sound well because her father  
abused her as well. It was not nearly as bad as the abuse Harry received,  
she only getting a slap or a kick or two, and Harry getting much worse.  
Besides, Reanna always saw it as much worse for Harry. Her father was  
always drunk when he slapped her, so she said that he did not know what he  
was doing. The Dursleys beat him out of pure hatred. Still, Harry worried  
more about her then about himself.  
The beatings on Harry stopped after he went to Hogwarts and although Reanna  
did not understand why Harry left and why his uncle stopped, she was glad  
of it. The beatings she was receiving had mellowed out through the years,  
but his had stayed treacherous. Now though, Vernon was starting up again,  
and the nerve was being struck again. Now that Reanna and Harry were  
older, Reanna was getting angrier. She said she would tell someone for  
Harry, but she was afraid of Vernon finding out. She most definitely did  
not want to be the cause of her best friend's death. Instead, she was  
overprotective around her friend, not letting the bullies get to him if she  
could prevent it, and not trusting people, especially not people who raised  
their voices, around him.  
"You need to tell someone." Reanna said gently as they walked to the field.  
"I can't. You know what Uncle Vernon's threat is." Harry said. "Besides  
when I tell someone, you tell someone." His hand reached up to brush  
against the bruise on her cheek. "He's still at it." He said quietly,  
meaning her father.  
"You know that I don't have it as bad as you." Reanna said gently.  
"Still." Harry said. "I can walk by myself now." Reanna's eyes flashed.  
"You're going to hurt yourself more; I'll let you go when we get to the  
field." She said sternly.  
"Come on Reanna, the ankle is just bruised a little." Harry insisted.  
"No."  
Harry sighed. There was no arguing with her when she got her head stuck on  
something.  
"Hey stupid!" Harry's cousin's, Dudley, cry came from behind them.  
Immediately both of them ducked. This was the instinctive thing to do when  
Dudley yelled something such as that. It most likely meant something was  
being thrown at them. Harry found they were correct when something went  
whizzing over where his head used to be.  
"Better stop, Dudley!" Harry called back as they continued walking. "The  
coach won't like you throwing rocks!" In response something hard hit his  
head. He winced and felt the slight gash; he had not time to duck for that  
one.  
Reanna gently let go of him and whirled around. "Stop it Dudley! It's bad  
enough what your father does, you do not have to contribute!"  
"Ooh, Potter, do you still need your girlfriend to stick up for you?"  
Dudley taunted.  
Reanna was about to run forward at him, but Harry put a hand on her  
shoulder. "Let it be." He said quietly. "It is not hurting anything."  
Reanna muttered something under her breath but turned back and started  
walking with him again.  
To their relief they were at the field. Dudley would not dare do anything  
in front of the coach, or even at the field. He was too afraid of getting  
caught by his father. If he did get caught he would find some way to blame  
it on Harry, but he did not want to risk it.  
Reanna had stopped supporting him at his begging, and was looking at her  
watch. Glancing at him to tell him that they were late she started jogging  
towards the center of the field. Sighing, Harry followed her. He  
recognized all of the kids from when he went to school with them and  
groaned inwardly. They all hated him and would use any excuse to taunt him  
or bully him. On top of that, according to Dudley there had been rumors of  
where he had been the past five years, and why he hadn't been at any of the  
schools that the other kids went to. Apparently everyone thought he went  
to a school for criminal boys. When he got almost to them they all started  
giggling and whispering. He kept his burning face down, he hated these  
kids.  
"Hey Potter, you're late!" One of the girls that Harry particularly hated  
shouted. She completely ignored the fact that Dudley and Reanna were late  
as well. "And where have you been since you left elementary? Dudley said  
that-"  
"Shhhhhh!" Everyone else shouted at her.  
Reanna looked furious and was about to tell the girl off, but Harry sent  
her another look. She was being overprotective again, and she knew it.  
She settled for glaring at the girl and moving over to Harry.  
Harry ignored the kids but though he should probably apologize to the  
coach, who he had not looked up to see yet, for interrupting the first  
practice. He hurriedly started to mumble an excuse. They would most  
likely not notice that Reanna was late as no one had mentioned her in his  
taunting.  
"Sorry I'm late, see -"  
"That's quite alright, I'm sure there is a good reason for you being late."  
A voice that he recognized said. Harry looked up to see who was coaching,  
and his jaw almost dropped in surprise. Standing in front of the children,  
holding a football (soccer ball) was his third year Defense Against the  
Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin. Harry looked quite surprised, and  
Lupin winked back.  
"All right, now that we're done calling role, I'll introduce myself." Lupin  
said. "I am familiar with some of you, but for those of you, who do not  
know me, I am Remus Lupin, I will be coaching you in football. You may call  
me Remus, or Coach, or Coach Remus, or Coach Lupin, or just whatever you  
prefer." Harry was trying desperately not to burst out laughing at this  
point, for some reason he just could not imagine a wizard teaching a muggle  
sport or a muggle anything. "And this is the, well, 'dog coach', and  
mascot, Snuffles. He will show you that you can definitely play, because if  
he can, anyone can." Harry looked over at the large black dog, "Snuffles".  
It was actually Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, but in his dog form. He  
was on the run for a crime he did not commit and so had to stay in that  
form whenever other people were around. At that point he was giving Lup  
-that is, Remus- a look that could kill. Noticing this, Remus hurried on.  
"So, today we will start with dribbling and learning the rules of football.  
Grab a ball and get started!"  
Immediately everyone ran for the balls, all trying to get the best. Reanna  
and Harry were in the lead but Harry should have known better. As soon as  
they got to the pile, Harry was pushed, kicked, and punched back until  
everyone else had a ball. Rubbing his face gingerly where he had been  
elbowed rather hard, he noticed that there were no balls left. He groaned.  
"Idiots."  
Harry turned and noticed Reanna glaring at the others. She had the two  
newest balls in her hands and had obviously refused to give them up. She  
looked at him in concern as he limped slightly, but he quickly corrected  
it. Smiling at her he took one of the balls and set it on the ground.  
"Next time they try to hurt you, I'll kill them myself." She said. Her  
voice got softer. "Are you sure you're all right? Maybe you should ask the  
coach to sit out?"  
"Nah, I'm fine. Remember in elementary school?" Harry said, grinning.  
Reanna shook her head and set her ball down as well.  
Harry began to dribble down the field, having a small race with Reanna. He  
had always been good at this in PE, and the coach told him he should join a  
team. Dudley, on the other hand, was never good at any sports. He was  
dribbling awkwardly down the field, and was just pushing people out of the  
way to get ahead. When one girl forgot to move, he elbowed her, making her  
trip over the ball and fall over. A whistle blew from Remus.  
"Dudley, I will not tolerate that kind of behavior. Please sit out for a  
while." He said calmly. Glowering, Dudley left the ball and went to the  
outskirts of where they were dribbling. He was asked later to rejoin them,  
but he was still glowering. Reanna snickered.  
Remus was watching them all and making comments on how well they were doing  
and what they needed to improve.  
"Retta, don't kick the ball so hard. Brutus, you're going to make the ball  
flat if you keep stepping on it like that. Sierra very good, keep it going.  
Harry, you too, you're doing very well. Reanna, you're doing well  
yourself. Dudley, I told you I wouldn't tolerate you pushing anyone."  
Harry caught a laugh in his throat at the last comment. He would have to  
warn Remus about how Dudley didn't listen to anyone.  
At the end of practice Harry stayed afterward to help Remus with the cones.  
He also took the opportunity to introduce him to Reanna, who was wondering  
why he was so friendly with him.  
"It is very nice to meet you, Reanna." Remus said, shaking her hand.  
"The pleasure's all mine." Reanna said, smiling. Harry laughed.  
"Since when do you put on the sweet attitude when adults are around?" He  
asked.  
"For your information, I always do." Reanna said, a mischievous glint in  
her eye. She caught sight of Sirius. "Well hello there, do you know how to  
shake?" She asked as she kneeled down. Harry bit his lip to keep from  
laughing when she suddenly stood up. "That's not a dog."  
Remus looked slightly alarmed, and looked at her carefully. Harry smiled  
slightly, "What do you mean it is not a dog? Of course it is!"  
"I'm telling you, that's not a dog." Reanna said firmly, she was obviously  
not joking. "That is not an animal of any sort." Harry frowned, he should  
have guessed her gift with animals would give Sirius away.  
"Reanna, how long have you known Harry? You two look enough alike to be  
twins, or at least siblings." Remus said, changing the subject.  
Reanna and Harry grinned at each other. When they were little, people  
would mistake them for siblings, even twins. Indeed, things did point that  
way. They both had black hair, green eyes, and they both had the same  
birthday. Often they would fool the teachers into thinking that they were  
twins, separated at birth and put in different families, but then Dudley  
would ruin it all. When he finally told his father Harry got in big  
trouble. Once, Reanna had cut her hair exactly like Harry's and wore fake  
glasses on the first day of school. The teacher's took them for identical.  
However, they never tried it again because Dudley, of course, ruined the  
fun.  
"Oh, we've known each other for as long as we can remember." Reanna said,  
grinning. "We've helped each other out a fair few times."  
"So you keep an eye out for each other?" Remus asked, winking at Harry.  
"Yeah, well, you could say that if Reanna was an animal, she would be a  
large, overprotective, guard dog." Harry said, mock glaring at his friend.  
"Every time we even got in a bit of trouble, she would freak."  
"Like, right before our eleventh birthdays we were out playing in the  
woods." Reanna started. "It was night time, but we had no idea what kind of  
dangers were in the forest, we were only ten and my parents and his aunt  
and uncle never told us about stuff like that."  
"Reanna!" Harry groaned.  
"Oops." Reanna said, turning red.  
"No, continue, I'd like to hear this. What kind of trouble you both got  
yourselves into when you were little." Remus said, grinning.  
"All right then." Reanna said eagerly. "Well we were out in the woods  
playing hide and seek. I guess Harry went and hid somewhere deep, and I  
could not find him. Harry, you take it from here."  
"Fine." Harry muttered. "I went and hid in a group of trees. I did not  
expect Reanna to find me, but I also did not expect her to try looking that  
hard. Next thing I know this wolf comes bounding out at me."  
"When I found him, another wolf had obviously blocked the first one, but I  
would not let either of them within a twenty foot radius of him."  
"Like I said, she's overprotective." Harry said, looking at his former  
professor. He had gone slightly pale, and Harry realized that it had been  
a full moon that night. So the wolf must have been a werewolf and his  
professor.Realization must have shown on his face because Remus shook  
himself out of it.  
"Well, it did not help that you did not have that much self confidence  
because of." Reanna trailed off suddenly when she realized what she was  
saying. It was Harry's turn to go pale slightly.  
"Because of.?" Remus asked, curious.  
"You know, I think I have to go." Reanna said, pretending to glance at her  
wrist, while she had conveniently stuck her watch in her pocket. "Wow!  
Look at the time! See you tomorrow Harry!"  
"Bye Reanna!" Harry called after her as she began running. He shook his  
head.  
"So why in the world are you teaching football?" Harry asked Remus. Remus  
chuckled.  
"I've been coaching for a while now. No one will give me a job in the  
wizarding world, so I got one in the Muggle world." He explained. "I've  
been coaching in different areas, but I've heard a few things about some of  
the kids in this area so I kept putting off coming here." Harry laughed  
slightly, putting the rest of the cones in the bag and scratching Snuffles  
behind the ears.  
"Yeah, all the kids around here are stupid, big, and bullying. Believe me,  
I went to school with them for eight years. None of them are nearly as bad  
as Dudley though, the one I have to live with." Harry made a face.  
"They seem that way." Remus said, frowning. "Always pushing each other  
around, no wonder your cousin is the leader." Harry smiled, then looked at  
his own watch which he had kept on his wrist.  
"Oh shoot! Prof - I mean Moony, er," He started. Remus laughed.  
"Just call me Remus, Harry." He said.  
"Right, but, I need to get back, I'm half an hour late, and Uncle Vernon is  
going to kill me." Harry told him, while running off. He gave a hurried  
wave over his shoulder, and saw Remus return it. Then he ran full out  
until he reached Privet Drive. Quickly he ran up the steps, and through  
the door. Not seeing anyone, he ran upstairs, only to be met by his Uncle  
Vernon at the top.  
"You're late boy!"  
"Sorry Uncle Vernon." Harry muttered. Then he winced as his uncle grabbed  
his collar and gave him a good shake.  
"Sorry isn't good enough this time boy!" Vernon shouted in his face.  
"You're half an hour late and on top of that Dudley said that you got him  
in trouble today for something he didn't do, and you were trying to be  
better at him in practice!" Harry said nothing, he knew that if he tried to  
argue, he would only make it worse.  
"Well? Answer me!" Vernon shouted, and gave Harry a shove, making him  
tumble down the stairs.  
Harry landed at the bottom extremely dazed, and realizing that he had badly  
sprained his wrist and twisted his ankle. He tried to get up, but was  
pushed back down by his uncle.  
"Come here boy!" Vernon shouted as he dragged him into the living room.  
This was the usual place to give Harry a beating, because it was the room  
that the least sound came out of.  
Harry closed his eyes, and almost immediately felt the hard blow of his  
uncle's fist on his chest, knocking him down from his kneeling position.  
Once on the ground he felt a boot connect with the same spot. Harry tried  
not to cry out; he wouldn't let his uncle see him hurt. He wouldn't give  
him the pleasure of knowing it was doing something. However, when the boot  
impacted his chest again and again, he couldn't help but cough violently.  
His uncle must have done some damage to his lungs as well.  
"Shut up boy!" Vernon shouted. Harry only coughed harder. Then he felt  
Vernon kick him in the leg, damaging the already twisted ankle. Harry  
couldn't keep it in any longer, he made a small whimper in pain.  
"SHUT UP!" his now red uncle shouted again. "That's it boy, I told you. One  
more time, one more time." As he said this he ripped off the leather belt  
that was around his waist. He turned around and kicked Harry so that he  
turned over.  
Harry felt the stinging piece of leather crack down on his back, and he  
clenched his teeth in pain. Again and again it came down, and he was  
biting his fingers in order to not cry out. Then Vernon kicked him several  
times in the chest and side. Harry bit his fingers harder in grim resolve  
as the steel toed boot placed blow after blow on him. Finally, after what  
seemed like eternity, his Uncle Vernon kicked him in the side and told him  
to go to his room. Harry painfully made his way up, and limped slowly  
upstairs. Once in his room, he flung himself onto the bed and tried to  
will the pain away.  
Later on, his aunt called him out to make dinner. He winced at each step,  
and fell half way down the stair because he could not hold himself up.  
After he made dinner his aunt threw him some celery and a peanut butter  
cookie. She told him, quite snappishly, that a man had stopped by and  
insisted every person in the household was to get one. She had promised,  
and Harry knew that she was not as bad as she seemed, so she gave him the  
one everyone else did not like, peanut butter.  
Harry thanked her shakily, and he saw something in her eyes. He knew his  
Aunt Petunia was not as cruel as Vernon. She was actually quite nice to  
him sometimes, but usually she was as mean as she could be. She snuck in  
some treats now and again, such as every five years, just to show she did  
not hate him. Harry managed to get both the celery and the cookie down.  
***  
The next day, as an addition to his punishment, Harry was made to do twice  
as many chores. He was feeling terribly queasy, which was not helping with  
the pain from the beating, and every time he touched his forehead he seemed  
to be steaming hot and sweaty. He was wondering if he was getting sick,  
but didn't have time to ponder on this because his uncle came out a punched  
him a few times and yelled at him for being lazy.  
As always, Harry felt he was at the unfair end of the deal, because he  
tried to tell his uncle that he was sick, but he just slapped him around  
the mouth and told him to stop lying. Finally, at about ten minutes before  
football practice, he was called inside and shooed out of the house.  
Before he left he grabbed a long jacket to hide the bruises, and wore a  
pair of baggy pants. It was cloudy anyway.  
Reanna had probably left earlier, she would not come to the door to ask for  
him. She was as afraid of Vernon as Harry was, though not for the same  
reason. She was afraid of him because she knew he would beat Harry if she  
came to the door, and Harry was afraid of him for the obvious reason. He  
was almost glad Reanna was not with him, he did not want her to see him in  
so much pain. He was still in great pain from the beating yesterday, and he  
was limping badly all the way to the field. He wasn't feeling as sick as  
he was earlier though, so figured that he had already gotten over whatever  
he had. He was still extremely hot though, which he couldn't figure out.  
Even the jacket wouldn't make him this hot; it was just a light windbreaker  
to hide the bruises.  
It took him a full half hour to get to the field, and he was late.  
Everyone except for Reanna was crowding around Remus again after warm-ups.  
Reanna was sitting by the side of the field with her head in her hands  
worriedly. Sirius, in his dog form, was sitting next to her. As Harry  
tried his best to run onto the field they looked up. Reanna jumped up and  
ran toward him at full speed. She skidded to a stop right next to him.  
"We'll be right there, Coach!" She shouted over to Remus. "Oh god, what did  
he do this time!" Reanna asked in a whisper. She went to support him but  
Harry shook her off.  
"I'm fine, don't get Remus all worried. He won't overreact as badly as you  
do, but his dog will do worse." Harry whispered.  
"Ask Remus if you can sit out, you can't play like this." Reanna said  
harshly.  
"And what about when Uncle Vernon finds out?" Harry said, shaking his head.  
"How is he going to find out if nobody tells him?" Reanna asked.  
"Dudley." Harry said simply. Reanna bit her lip.  
"Oh fine." She said snappishly. "But if you even feel the slightest bit of  
pain, you are sitting out and I'll threaten Dudley with his life." Harry  
smiled thankfully at her.  
They did their best to run over, Harry not showing his limp quite well.  
"Harry, just in time to start. You missed the warm-ups but I'm sure you're  
plenty stretched out." Remus said, grinning. At the same time he looked at  
him with concern. Harry smiled and did his best to stand up straight  
despite the pain. Reanna scowled.  
"Okay, since you all did so well yesterday, today I'm going to split you  
into teams and we are going to play a small game, and you will get the  
rules more as you go." Remus told them. A cheer went through them, Harry  
included. "Alright the captains are Harry and Sierra. You two, come up  
here and choose teams." Harry managed to walk up to the front with only a  
slight limp. He managed to get a pretty good team, without Dudley and with  
Reanna of course.  
They were just going out to the playing field, when Remus called Harry over  
to help with the equipment. He walked over to him pretty much without  
limping, but when he was over by Remus, he was aching so badly that he  
thought about taking Reanna's advice and asking if he could sit out. Then,  
however, he thought that that would cause him and Sirius to worry, and it  
really wasn't anything to worry about. Besides, he did not want to get  
Sirius all stressed out.  
"Are you all right?" Remus asked. He was looking at Harry's ankle, the one  
that he had been favoring slightly.  
"I'm fine, really." Harry told him. "I just tripped a couple of times when  
I was walking here."  
"Well, okay," Remus said slowly, Harry had a feeling that he did not  
believe the story. "Tell me if you want to sit out, right?" Harry nodded.  
Harry found that if he took his mind off of it, his ankle did not hurt  
nearly as bad when he was playing. However, he only got to play the first  
five minutes, because as soon as Dudley got the chance.  
TWEEEET!  
"Dudley!" Remus shouted.  
Dudley had been dribbling a ball clumsily down the field, and Harry had  
been trying to steal it from him. Suddenly, Harry felt Dudley elbow him  
hard in the ribs and swing at his twisted ankle, knocking him down. He was  
knocked down easier too because he was starting to feel sick again, but had  
ignored it to go on with practice.  
In order to break the fall, he put out his hand, and landed on the  
sprained wrist. He felt himself land on the ground, coughing violently.  
He tried not to show he was hurt, but he still clutched his arm. Everyone  
else crowded around. Dudley had hit him before and he had never reacted  
this badly.  
Reanna was beside him in an instant. She put up her fists at anyone who  
tried to get near him, while trying to gently help him up. When Remus bent  
down to help she snapped, "Get away from him!" Remus drew back quickly,  
looking somewhere between slightly pleased with her and worried.  
Still coughing, Harry allowed her to help him up, remembering his promise.  
He put an arm over her shoulder and they limped over to the sidelines.  
Gently she sat down with him, forcing him to stay put. Snuffles came over  
and put his head in Harry's face. Reanna pushed him away roughly which  
surprised him greatly.  
"Dudley, I told you that I would not stand that kind of behavior yesterday.  
If this continues you will be kicked off the team. Now, sit out for the  
rest of practice." Remus said as he walked over to them. "And Retta, you  
can kick the fowl shot. Back to the game!" He blew the whistle once more.  
Harry's coughing had subsided, and he was now trying to get Reanna to leave  
off. "I'm fine, Reanna. Give it a break."  
"You're not fine, don't give me that!" Reanna said. "And once Dudley gets  
through me, he'll be much worse!"  
"Reanna." Remus said softly as he walked up to them. The girl looked up.  
"Why don't you go back to the game?"  
"Sorry, I'm staying with Harry. You don't understand, and I don't expect  
you to." Reanna said firmly. Remus raised his eyebrows slightly.  
"Remus, please." Harry said, worming himself out of her grip. "You can't  
argue with her when she's got an idea in her head. Believe me, I've  
tried."  
"Fine." Remus sighed. "Now, Harry,"  
"I'm fine."  
"'Dudley just pushes hard.'" Reanna ended for him in a mimicking voice.  
Harry gave her a look.  
"I'm still going to get a bandage for your ankle, and for your wrist as  
well." Remus said, not convinced.  
"No, Remus, it's okay. Its fine, I just hit it hard when I fell."  
"The coughing?"  
"I have a cold." It was partly true, Harry was sick, it was just he did not  
know what he had. Remus looked as though he did not believe any of this,  
but shook his head and sat down to watch the game.  
Harry and Reanna watched the game while a concerned Sirius sat next to  
them. Reanna apologized to Remus about snapping to him and he said it was  
quite all right.  
"Remembering the story you two told me yesterday, I guess I should be more  
aware of what I'm doing." Remus said. Harry and Reanna laughed.  
Amazingly, Remus did not have to call another foul, which surprised Harry.  
Most of these kids were bullies, or they always had been to him. He  
supposed that it was because Dudley wasn't in the game anymore, so they  
didn't feel as needed to foul someone. Either that or they didn't want to  
be kicked out of the game.  
Finally practice ended. Harry offered to help Remus with the supplies  
again, forgetting that this was the reason he had been in trouble the day  
before. Reanna too offered to help, but only because she wanted to keep an  
eye on Harry. However, Remus refused.  
"Are you sure you don't want me to bandage your wrist?" Remus asked. "Or I  
can do something else if."  
"It's fine." Harry said.  
"Well," Remus said, "If you're sure you're fine. Are you sure you don't  
even want me to look at it?" Harry hurriedly shook his head at that, he  
would see the other bruises.  
"He said he's fine!" Reanna snapped, getting tired of Remus questioning  
him.  
"Reanna!" Harry said.  
"Well, you said you did not want anyone messing with it! He needs to leave  
you alone!" Reanna said.  
"He's only trying to help, give him a break!" Harry said.  
"He's also trying to invade in private business, isn't he?" Reanna asked.  
"If he wants to know so badly, why don't we just tell him?"  
Harry turned pale and suddenly took off in the other direction. Reanna  
paled as well, realizing what she said. "Oh my gosh, Harry! I'm sorry, I  
did not mean it! Harry!" She took off after him.  
"What was that all about?" Remus asked as they disappeared. Sirius whined  
in response.  
Harry had collapsed onto the sidewalk, exhausted and in a great amount of  
pain, when he heard racing footsteps behind him. "Harry!" It was Reanna.  
She gently helped him up, tears in her eyes.  
"I'm so sorry, I did not mean, I was not thinking. You know me, I was in  
my 'Harry's hurt, have to protect him' mode." Reanna apologized.  
"I know." Harry gasped. "Come on, we have to get home." Reanna stopped.  
"I don't want you going back, Harry. Your uncle is going to kill you. Why  
don't we tell the coach, I'm sure he'll help you?" She begged. "I'm serious  
this time, please."  
"No, I can't risk it." Harry said. He stumbled slightly and Reanna  
steadied him. "Come on, Uncle Vernon is not that bad. What's the worst he  
can do?"  
"You know what he can do, and so do I." Reanna said, visibly upset. "I  
don't want anything more to happen to you!"  
Harry ignored the last statement and leaned heavier on her. He was feeling  
quite grateful toward her being there, because his ankle was throbbing. He  
had a feeling it was swelling because his shoe was tighter. It finally got  
to the point where he was barely putting any weight on it at all, and was  
going slower than ever.  
"Come on, if I don't hurry Uncle Vernon will kill me." Harry said.  
"No, you need to slow down, turn around even." Reanna said.  
Harry ignored her and sped up just as Reanna slowed down. He did this just  
as they came to the steep hill, and this resulted in his leg crumpling  
under him, and sliding part way down the hill. He landed partly on his  
bruised ribs and coughed.  
From behind him, Harry heard Reanna curse and skid down the hill after him.  
"I'm fine." Harry said in between coughing. He quickly tried to get up,  
only to find that he must have done something else to his ankle, and that  
he couldn't lift himself up with his injured arm. He fell back down with  
another fit of coughing.  
Reanna quickly leaned down and went to help him up. "My god, tell me when  
you're going to do that! You could have seriously hurt yourself!" Harry  
had stopped coughing but inhaled sharply when Reanna went to help him up.  
The cuts and bruises from the day before were still there. "Shit! He  
really cut you up, didn't he?" Reanna said angrily. She managed to get him  
on his feet without hurting him too much. He gripped Reanna's arm rather  
hard as his ankle shook beneath him.  
"I'm fine." He said as they started up again. "Let's just get home."  
"Are you sure you don't want to tell Coach Remus, and he'll do something?"  
She asked.  
"I'm afraid to." Harry admitted. "What if he doesn't care, I'll have told  
someone for nothing! Or what if he doesn't believe me? I'll get in even  
more trouble then I am in." Reanna bit her lip, looking increasingly  
worried. Then she sighed.  
"I understand." Reanna said. "It is your own right, and I'm not allowed to  
tell." It was an agreement they had made up. "Just please, stay as safe as  
you can." They looked up and saw that Dudley was standing right in front of  
Privet Drive.  
"You're in trooooouuuuuuble!" Dudley shouted at Harry. "Dad is so mad at  
you!"  
"I'll be fine from here." Harry told Reanna as she made sure he was good on  
his own feet and let go of him. "Thanks, Reanna."  
"No problem." She said, forcing a smile.  
She watched him worriedly as he retreated into the house, taunted by  
Dudley. As soon as he entered a terrible feeling came over her, nearly  
knocking her down. She picked herself up onto her feet, took another look  
at Privet Drive, and took off running back towards the field.  
Reanna did not stop running until she reached the field. She was a good  
runner, but still slipped slightly when she reached the hill. As she ran  
onto the field she saw that Remus and Snuffles were just leaving, having  
just packed up the gear from that day. Remus looked up as she came running  
onto the field and smiled when he greeted her.  
"Hello Reanna, next practice is not until tomorrow you know!" Remus said.  
"Of course, if you would like some extra practice that's fine."  
"No, it is not about that, it is about Harry." Reanna gasped out, catching  
her breath. She was not a long distance runner. Remus' face immediately  
became concerned.  
"What's wrong?" He asked sharply.  
"I-I'm not supposed to be doing this, but." She stopped herself. She had  
caught her breath by now. "Harry's in danger; I don't know what he will do  
to him." Remus did not stop to ask who 'he' was. Snuffles and Remus were  
already taking off down the path. Reanna quickly followed.  
"Where is he?" Remus asked as they ran.  
"His house, Privet Drive." Reanna said. "It is his uncle, he's been abusing  
him since we were little, I wanted to tell someone sooner, but he made me  
promise. His uncle said if anyone ever found out, he would kill him."  
Reanna was near tears now. "I think Dudley told his uncle that I was with  
him." Remus sped up.  
"Which house is his?" Remus asked as they reached Privet Drive. He was not  
even out of breath.  
"That one." Reanna said, pointing. Remus ran forward with Snuffles and  
burst in.  
***  
As soon as Harry got into the house, he was grabbed by an angry Vernon.  
"You're late boy!" He shouted. Harry winced, he saw another beating  
coming. "Living room, now!" Without waiting for a reply, Vernon grabbed  
Harry's ear, and dragged him into what Harry had become to know as "The  
Beating Room" instead of the living room. There his uncle turned on him.  
"As I said before, you're late. Plus, Dudders told me that you made him  
sit out for the whole practice for supposedly knocking you down. On top of  
that, you sat out for all of practice. Plus, Dudley said he saw you  
talking to the coach."  
"I know him!" Harry interrupted, then winced as Uncle Vernon's hand came  
flying into his face.  
"I will not have him learning about your, your, abnormality!" His voice got  
dangerously loud. Then his voice took an even more dangerous tone, soft  
and daring. "Or is he one of your kind?"  
Harry swallowed hard, he knew that if he didn't answer, he would get  
slapped again, but if he told the truth he would probably get a large  
beating for lying. He chose not to answer. He chose wrong.  
"Of course he isn't. And worse, he saw you with a girl! The very same  
girl I told not to come back years ago. I suppose you told her  
everything." Vernon spat. "Why don't you tell me what you told her? All  
the lies?" The sickening sweet yet dangerous voice made Harry sick. His  
uncle glared at him, but he did not answer. "You deserve every part of  
this, boy!" Then almost immediately Harry felt Vernon kick him in his  
chest, and Harry was sure that he felt his ribs break. He clenched his  
teeth as he fell onto the floor, but refused to cry out.  
A fist met with his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Then Vernon  
began to kick him repeatedly in the stomach, chest, and shoulders, and  
Harry closed his eyes tight, willing himself to keep quiet.  
"Get up!" Vernon shouted, kicking him again in the shoulder. Harry tried,  
knowing if he didn't he would be in big trouble, but found that every  
movement with his upper body hurt. "Get up you freak!" Vernon shouted  
again, and he grabbed his hair and wrenched him from the ground. Then he  
threw him face first onto the floor, and Harry heard the familiar THWAP of  
a warm up belt swing. Then he felt the belt come stinging onto his back.  
Again and again it came down, and Harry couldn't help but let out a small  
whimper.  
"Shut up you fool!" Vernon shouted, and started bringing the belt down  
faster and harder. Harry bit down on his lip to keep from making a sound  
again, and tasted blood in his mouth. He lost count after about thirty  
more strokes, but it finally stopped. By this time Harry was biting on his  
lip so hard that he had made a deep cut in his skin.  
Harry thought that the beating was over, it usually ended with the belt,  
but then he felt Vernon yank him up again by his hair. Harry cried out in  
pain, he could not help it anymore.  
"I SAID SHUT UP!!!" Vernon bellowed, spraying spit everywhere. He slapped  
Harry in the face and brought his fist down on his temple. Everything went  
black for a minute before clearing slightly again.  
Harry felt himself get thrown down, and felt a terrible pain as his head  
hit the glass table behind him. He cried out again. Vernon might have  
said to shut up again but Harry just felt a stick, probably Dudley's,  
coming down on his head and back and chest, only making him yell in pain  
louder. His uncle kicked him onto his stomach, and made the stick come  
right down on his spinal chord. Harry straightened out from the pain, and  
Uncle Vernon told him to stop moving. He yanked him back over on his back,  
and grabbed a piece of glass. Harry screamed as his uncle threw it into  
his stomach, and screamed again as he felt it scratch his head. Then a  
final blow with the stick hit him in the head, and he heard footsteps going  
out of the room.  
Harry opened his eyes slightly, only to find that his face was covered in  
blood. Vernon had walked away, that was the end of the beating. That was  
by far the worst beating he had ever received. He closed his eyes again,  
and let his head fall back. He was barely conscious and just wanted to  
drift into blackness, but then heard footsteps coming back in. The  
footsteps stopped in front of him.  
"Say goodbye boy." He heard Vernon's voice saying. Painfully he opened his  
eyes, and saw blearily that Vernon was holding something black and medal in  
his hands. A gun. Too weak and in too much pain to protest, Harry just  
closed his eyes, waiting for the shot to come.  
"Go to Hell with your parents and all your other damn relatives." Vernon  
said.  
Suddenly, Harry heard the front door bang open, startling both him and his  
uncle. Then footsteps raced in, and he could almost feel the anger in the  
room, of both his uncle and whoever had just entered. He no longer had the  
energy to open his eyes, but heard a familiar cry.  
Footsteps raced forward and he heard sobbing. Warm hands gently checked  
for a pulse as more footsteps approached, and there was a sigh as they must  
have found one. Harry knew who it was, but what were they doing here? He  
opened his eyes very slightly to confirm, and saw Reanna kneeling beside  
him. She looked extremely upset and worried.  
"Reanna." An imitation of her name came out as a moan.  
"Shh, stay still." Reanna said softly. Harry could see the anger at Vernon  
burning in her eyes, and the worry for him along with it. "You'll be all  
right."  
Suddenly Harry made a small whimper of fear and pain as a loud bang echoed  
through the room. Reanna jumped as well, but tried to soothe the now  
trembling Harry. Vernon had pulled the trigger, but obviously missed.  
Reanna stood up protectively next to him, and whoever was with her pushed  
her back. He heard a growl and realized that Snuffles must be with them.  
"You monster!" Reanna snarled. Her voice rose as she talked. "You absolute  
monster! How dare you?"  
"How dare I what?" Vernon asked, a sneer in his voice.  
"Reanna, quiet!" Harry heard Remus whisper this hurriedly.  
"No, get out of my way!" Reanna screamed. "How dare you beat him! God, do  
you know how much fear you've made him live in? Do you know how much pain  
you've caused him? Every person that raised their voice, every person that  
even approaches him he jumps away from. You don't even care, I know you do  
not! No, you just wanted to get a high of this. You never thought about  
anybody else but yourself! Well fuck you! Between you and your fat, whale  
of a son I'm surprised that Harry is even still alive! The only reason he  
never told anyone was because you managed to convince him that no one  
cared, and that if he told someone he would wind up dead for no reason!  
You've made his life a living nightmare! God help to keep my temper or I  
will kill you! You monster!" Her breath was heavy and the whole room was  
still. Her voice got soft and dangerous. "Now, get out of my sight before  
I kill you." Harry heard Vernon make a strange noise, drop the gun, and run  
out of the room. There was a stunned silence.  
Reanna was already kneeling back beside Harry. She reared when Remus  
approached. "Get away!" She hissed.  
"Why did you bring me here if you did not need my help?" Remus asked  
softly. "I know you trust me because you told me something you had never  
told anyone."  
"But, he's frightened easily after Vernon does this, please." Reanna  
begged.  
"Don't worry, I won't frighten him." Remus said gently. Doubtfully, Reanna  
moved out of the way, ready to jump back in if Remus did anything.  
"Snuffles, transform please." Remus directed.  
"What?" Reanna asked.  
"You know how you said Snuffles was not a real animal?" Remus asked, Reanna  
must have nodded, "Well, he's not." There was a gasp of surprise.  
Harry was lying still as this was going on, knowing that Reanna would keep  
him safe. He gasped in pain and fear as new hands gently checked him over.  
"You're hurting him!" Reanna said indignantly. "He does not even know you!  
He won't trust you."  
"Trust me, Reanna." A new voice said. Harry immediately relaxed as he  
heard it. "Harry, can you hear me?" The voice asked gently, brushing the  
hair out of his face.  
Harry stirred slightly, trying to get up, but every movement hurt him, and  
he moaned softly in pain. Reanna gasped and he heard her trying to come  
forward. Remus was most likely holding her back.  
"Sirius." Harry heard himself moan softly. It was his godfather, Sirius  
Black. He opened his eyes slightly and saw a man with light blue eyes,  
full of concern, and shoulder length black hair. Last time Harry had seen  
him, his hair had been unwashed and his robes had been filthy. Now they  
both looked better. He closed his eyes, in too much pain to keep them  
open.  
"Shh. It's okay; you're going to be okay now." Sirius soothed. Harry felt  
him softly bring his hand behind close to his back, but as soon as his hand  
touched it, a searing pain went through him. He yanked away, and whimpered  
softly.  
"Stop it! Please stop it!" Reanna cried.  
Sirius ignored her and gently tried again. He rubbed Harry's back  
soothingly as he tried to pick him up, lessening the pain slightly. Harry  
managed to stay quiet despite the agony. Sirius gently picked him up and  
kept him in his arms.  
"Please, he needs medical help." He heard Reanna's voice.  
"Shush Reanna." Remus said quietly. "We'll take care of things, why don't  
you go home and we'll keep you updated?" Harry was sure she made a face.  
"What home?" She asked bitterly.  
Harry wanted to say something. He wanted to tell her to tell, since she  
had told about him. There was help for him, now she needed help. Seeming  
to read his thoughts, Remus spoke.  
"What do you mean?" He asked.  
"Nothing." She muttered. "Just."  
"Why don't you and I call your folks and ask if it is all right for you to  
come with us?" Remus said.  
"You need to get Harry to a." Reanna started.  
"Sirius will take care of him." Remus said gently. "Sirius, why don't you  
go by floo powder to my house and we'll be there in a minute."  
"Right." Sirius said. "Reanna, go wherever the phone is, Remus will be  
there in a second." Harry heard her footsteps hurry off.  
Remus blasted out the fireplace and the crackling of a fire could be heard.  
There was the usual sound of floo powder being thrown into the flames, and  
Harry felt a warm tickling sensation.  
"The Iron Gate Den!" Sirius said.  
Harry felt the sickening twirling of the fire, but as he was held closer to  
his godfather he felt safer. Knowing he was in Sirius' arms, he let the  
blackness take him over. 


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing except Reanna.  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Harry felt pain again as he came out of blackness. He did not know why he woke up, he felt  
  
like drifting back into the unconscious state he was in before. He knew this would not help though,  
  
he could feel the pain even when he was unconscious, and it seemed to be worse because there was  
  
nothing else to take his mind off of it. He moaned slightly, but kept his eyes closed. It was so hot.  
  
He was feeling worse then he had earlier that day, and while he was hot, shivers of cold kept going  
  
through him. He didn't remember anything; he only knew it was hot, so hot.  
  
Through the pain and the unbearable heat, Harry felt something cool being pressed against  
  
his forehead. It reduced the burning slightly, but as soon as it was gone it came back full force. He  
  
tried to open his eyes, but he could not. He shivered slightly despite being hot. A gentle hand was  
  
on his forehead but it jerked back quickly, followed by a gasp.  
  
"Sirius!" A girl's voice rang out. Footsteps came hurriedly up what sounded like stairs.  
  
"What is it?" A man asked.  
  
"He's burning up, where's Remus?"  
  
"He went for a doctor." The man replied. Footsteps faded slightly, then became loud again.  
  
"Here."  
  
Harry felt something being slid into his mouth, and thought it must be a thermometer. He  
  
let the people gently slip it under his tongue, and lay still. When it beeped, one of them took it out  
  
and gasped.  
  
"105!" The girl exclaimed. "I'll be right back, I'm getting a few more bowls of the water  
  
mixture. Do you know anything about medical things?"  
  
"No." The man answered. The girl sighed.  
  
"Right then, see if he is hallucinating and if he knows you. I'll be back in a minute." The  
  
girl said. Footsteps went out of the room.  
  
"Harry?" The man asked gently. Harry made no response. "Harry, are you awake?" Harry  
  
moaned slightly. "There we go, that's a good boy. Do you remember who this is?"  
  
Harry listened to him talking. Of course he knew who the person was, he was, he was. he  
  
moaned as the heat took another wave, along with another wave of pain. He couldn't remember.  
  
Wait, yes he did. He just had to see the person, and, he opened his eyes. In front of him he could  
  
see a man with messy black hair, brown eyes, and glasses. He looked at him with an extremely  
  
worried expression. Of course he knew this person.  
  
"Dad?" He asked weakly. The person he thought was his father flinched and made a pained  
  
expression. A crash came from somewhere else.  
  
"No Harry." The man said.  
  
"No?" Harry asked.  
  
"No, it is Sirius. Don't you remember me?" The man asked.  
  
Harry heard the girl rushing in. "Here," She sounded frantic.  
  
"  
  
No.don't remember." Harry moaned weakly. Why could he not remember? It had to be his  
  
father, it had to be. "Dad."  
  
The man who said he was 'Sirius' held him. Harry sobbed as he was gently rocked back and  
  
forth. Finally it became too much for him and he started to drift off once more. He did not realize  
  
he was quieting while he drifted.  
  
Suddenly, a searing pain went over his face. He could not help but whimper and jerked  
  
away violently.  
  
"Shh, it is all right." He heard the man saying. Harry relaxed when he heard him.  
  
"Sirius?" His voice was weak and slurred, and he barely registered that he said anything.  
  
"That's right Harry, I'm here." His godfather said gently. "I'm just going to see how badly  
  
you're hurt, all right?"  
  
"'K." Harry said, not completely knowing what he was saying.  
  
"This might hurt a little, try to keep still." Sirius said. The searing pain went over his face  
  
again. He managed to stay relatively still, but could not keep the whimper from escaping.  
  
He felt the cloth going over his face, most likely getting the blood off of his face. He  
  
managed not to make too much sound, even when Sirius wiped over the gash on his temple. He  
  
heard the sound of a towel being wrung out, and stayed relaxed. However, when Sirius went to  
  
unbutton his shirt unbearable pain went through him. He cried out and jerked away hard. He felt  
  
Sirius catch him, but kept struggling. The hand on his back increased the pain. He whimpered.  
  
"Come on Harry, you'll hurt yourself." Sirius said softly.  
  
Harry struggled harder until he felt gentling hands soothing him. It was Reanna; she was the  
  
only one who could calm him down when he was so frantic. He finally lay still in Sirius' arms,  
  
panting wildly.  
  
"What-" Sirius started.  
  
"That is where his uncle beats him the most." Reanna cut him off bitterly.  
  
She took Harry's hand in hers, and stroked it softly to keep him calm. Sirius caressed his  
  
hair then continued. The cloth of his shirt would once in a while hit a severe spot. When it hit  
  
these he tried his best to not move, but he could not help it. However, as soon as Reanna spoke  
  
softly to him he relaxed.  
  
"My god." Sirius said in a horrified voice when the shirt was off.  
  
He felt someone's, most likely Reanna's, hands gently put pressure on his shoulders, pinning  
  
him down. A wet cloth touched his chest, and agonizing pain went over him. He cried out and  
  
struggled, but Reanna held him down firmly but gently. She whispered soothing words to him and  
  
he relaxed slightly again.  
  
When they were done with his chest, Sirius levitated him so he did not have to lie on his  
  
stomach. Harry whimpered as the cloth gently ran over his back. Sirius made a small noise, but  
  
Reanna gently took his hand once again and quieted him. Slowly, he felt himself being put down  
  
once more. He kept still as he felt Sirius examine his ankle.  
  
"He was limping rather badly at practice today." Sirius said slowly.  
  
"You have no idea." Reanna said, anger in her voice once more. "By the time he got home he  
  
could not stand on it, let alone walk."  
  
Harry clenched his teeth in pain as Sirius gently loosened the shoe. He knew it was already  
  
too small; it was one of Dudley's extremely old ones. Add that to the swelling, and he had a feeling  
  
Sirius was going to have to cut it off. Amazingly, he was able to coax it off, and took off the sock as  
  
well. He bathed the foot and then came back up and sat by him. Sirius gently brushed some hair  
  
out of Harry's face. Harry could feel that he was slightly tense. A few minutes later Sirius cursed.  
  
"What the Hell?" He exclaimed softly. "What did that man do?"  
  
"You don't want to know." Reanna said softly.  
  
"It is important." Sirius told her. Reanna sighed.  
  
"It would take too long to go through all of it, but." Not wanting to hear this, Harry  
  
forced the lessened pain away and drifted off once more.  
  
The first thing Harry felt when he woke up was pain. It had certainly lessened since he had  
  
actually been beaten, but it was still agonizing. Along with the pain he was incredibly hot, and could  
  
not clearly remember anything, or where he was. Where was he? He panicked, thinking he was  
  
back in his cupboard and his uncle was going to come and get him to do three times as many chores  
  
as yesterday. He fought to get up, to get the little strength he had in gear before his uncle came to  
  
force him up, but found that the pain was too great.  
  
Harry was near screaming in frustration when he felt someone try to lift him gently up. In  
  
panic, Harry wrenched himself out of the persons grasp, only to cause more pain, tried to lift himself  
  
onto his elbows, and opened his eyes slightly.  
  
"Harry, shh, it's only me." He heard someone saying, but when he felt the hand come closer  
  
again, he felt the panic rising. It was his uncle, it had to be. He was going to beat him again. It was  
  
too dark to see anything, and one of his arms wasn't holding him up.  
  
"No!" Harry said weakly as he tried to get as far away as possible from the person. He started  
  
coughing, and the panic had risen. It was the panic he got before a beating, during the yells and  
  
screams of his uncle. He could feel himself falling into unconsciousness from his movements, and  
  
pain flashed through him with every jerk. "No, stay away from me! I'm sorry for whatever I did this  
  
time! I'm sorry." He didn't even hear the gentling whispers of the person, trying to stop him from  
  
hurting himself. Footsteps were coming over to him and there was pressure right beside him. He  
  
started to completely lose control of his panic.  
  
"Harry, it's all right. It is me, Reanna, come on little brother, it's all right." Harry heard  
  
Reanna's voice and relaxed.  
  
At that moment the door opened and someone turned on the light. Reanna was kneeling  
  
next to him, her eyes full of worry but understanding. Behind her Sirius was rubbing his shoulder  
  
and approaching cautiously. At the door Remus was standing by the light switch, looking tired and  
  
worried.  
  
"That's right Harry, it's okay." Reanna said softly helping him lay back down. "Go back to  
  
sleep." Harry closed his eyes and relaxed completely.  
  
Harry woke up again that afternoon. He felt hot, yet shivers sometimes ran down his spine,  
  
and he was shivering. He opened his eyes slightly, and saw two blurry figures in the room. One was  
  
sitting next to him, and the other was pacing the room. His first thought was to get up and run, but  
  
he felt too weak. He closed his eyes again. Then he felt someone push his sweaty bangs out of his  
  
face, but his eyes snapped open and he jerked away. Despite the pain he raised himself as best as he  
  
could on his elbows, and looked over at the person.  
  
"Sirius?" He rasped as things came into focus. As soon as he spoke he erupted into violent  
  
coughs. Sirius' worried face wavered in and out of focus, swimming in front of Harry's eyes.  
  
"Shh, Harry." Sirius said softly. "Lie down." He reached for Harry. Harry flinched, but  
  
allowed Sirius to ease him onto the pillows so he was sitting in a comfortable lying position.  
  
Harry was relieved he was with Sirius, and saw Remus come up from behind. He  
  
remembered something about them and Reanna coming to Privet Drive, but he thought it had been  
  
a dream. He could not get the words to ask where he was past his throat though.  
  
"Don't talk." Sirius said. Then he reached behind him and grabbed the extra large glass of  
  
water by Harry's bedside. "Thirsty?" Harry nodded. With Sirius' help he downed the water in two  
  
gulps. Remus quickly conjured up another glass, and Harry again downed this one.  
  
"That enough?" Sirius asked. Harry nodded again.  
  
"Thanks." He whispered croakily. Something on the chair caught his eye. Reanna was fast  
  
asleep, sprawled on it. Sirius chuckled at where his gaze was directed.  
  
"She wore herself out worrying about you. The doctor was here, and Reanna had to tell her  
  
everything that had happened to you because she was the only one who knew. Surprisingly she had  
  
almost no response to Trinity saying that she could not heal muggle injuries completely with magic.  
  
She has grown up in a muggle town so.Of course, Reanna would not let anyone near you at first.  
  
She's very protective." He said, smiling slightly. Harry smiled despite the heat and pain.  
  
"Guard dog." He mumbled under his breath. Sirius smiled.  
  
Remus, who had left earlier, came up just then with a steaming potion in his hands. Sirius  
  
got up and took it from him and set it by Harry's bedside. Harry made a face, he hated potions.  
  
"It is a fever reducing potion. Just take this and you can go back to sleep." Sirius said softly.  
  
Harry nodded and allowed him to help him drink it. "Now, lie down. You need your rest."  
  
Harry obeyed him and settled himself in the soft mattress. The potion had worked, making  
  
it feel as though a fire was being extinguished throughout his body. His throat was cooled, and he  
  
relaxed. It was not hard to drift off to sleep.  
  
"Get out!" Reanna's voice rang sharply and clearly through the house.  
  
Harry slowly processed her voice in his mind. He was still so tired and in so much pain. He  
  
just wanted to drift back off into the wonderful blackness. A pounding heat came bursting onto his  
  
head and he moaned slightly.  
  
"Get out I tell you!" Again, her voice interrupted him. From beside him he heard someone  
  
get up and hurry downstairs.  
  
"But."  
  
"No 'buts' about it! Get out before I call the police!"  
  
"We're here to see Harry, who are you anyway?" Harry recognized that voice as Ron's,  
  
sounding indignant.  
  
"That is none of your business, and how do you know Harry, may I ask?" Reanna snapped.  
  
"That's none of your business!" Ron snapped.  
  
"Well-"  
  
"Reanna!" Sirius cut her off.  
  
"What? I'm keeping whoever these two are." Reanna started crossly.  
  
"We know them Reanna." Sirius explained gently. "Now quiet down or you'll wake Harry."  
  
"Oh." Reanna said in a small voice. "Oops."  
  
Harry groaned again and tried to find his way back to sleep. Man his head hurt. Harry  
  
decided it was too hot to go back to sleep, and tried to kick his covers off. Instantly a searing pain  
  
went through him. He stilled immediately, knowing from previous experience that if he moved it  
  
would hurt. Footsteps came up the stairs and into his room.  
  
"Really Reanna, you are very lucky." Sirius grumbled.  
  
"What do you mean?" Reanna asked.  
  
"One: That I'm a light sleeper; two: Harry obviously is a heavy sleeper; and three: Remus is  
  
still asleep. No, one more. Four: that Ron is as hotheaded as you are." He heard a 'humph!" from  
  
both Ron and Reanna.  
  
"Come on then, you can sit on the chairs." Reanna said, now whispering.  
  
Harry felt a light weight as she sat on the bed, brushing some of his hair out of his face while  
  
she was at it. He decided on pretending to be asleep, so maybe he could drift off while they were \  
  
talking.  
  
"We have to talk quietly, I don't know what Sirius is talking about when he says Harry is a  
  
heavy sleeper." Reanna whispered.  
  
"Well if he was not, he would be awake wondering why the hell you were yelling your lungs  
  
out." Ron said, obviously still cross. After a moment he continued thoughtfully, "Although you are  
  
correct about him being a light sleeper."  
  
"So who are you, anyway, and how do you know Harry?" Harry heard Hermione for the first  
  
time since they had arrived. She sounded obviously upset and worried.  
  
"I might ask you the same thing." Reanna pointed out.  
  
"True." Hermione said. "All right, we are friends from his school. My name is Hermione  
  
Granger, and he is Ron Weasley."  
  
"Oh!" Reanna said quietly, seeming to brighten. "Harry's told me about you. He said you  
  
both have helped him out on several occasions. As for me, I'm Reanna Peirce, his best friend since  
  
before either of us can remember. He says I'm an overprotective guard dog."  
  
"Well, it is true." Harry mumbled from his pillow. Reanna must have jumped because he  
  
felt the pressure leave then come back again.  
  
"You could tell me when you're awake!" She said, acting stern but still having a gentle lull in  
  
her voice.  
  
"Sorry." Harry muttered, opening his eyes. Reanna smiled and helped him sit up.  
  
"Hey Ron, hey Hermione." Harry said, his voice still weak.  
  
"I would hug you if I did not think I was going to hurt you in doing so!" Hermione burst  
  
out, settling for grabbing his hand. Harry smiled slightly despite the overwhelming heat and pain  
  
that was still surrounding him.  
  
"Hey mate." Ron said, smiling shakily. Harry smiled at him as well. "Before I forget, Dad  
  
sent over some candies from the Ministry, watch out though he said there was a rage of rats in his  
  
office where he was keeping them. This one is supposed to help the broken bones. I guess word  
  
leaked out."  
  
"Thanks." Harry said. With Reanna's consent he popped the one into his mouth. It tasted  
  
slightly funny but he supposed it was just because he was sick. Besides, it was supposed to make him  
  
better so it had to have some kind of medicine in it.  
  
Ron's freckled face and red hair were going in and out of focus, and Harry found that he  
  
could not concentrate on Hermione so close up. His head pounded, but he ignored it. Reanna  
  
smiled at them, she seemed to trust them.  
  
"So how long have you been awake, young man?" She asked sternly.  
  
"Since you tried to scare them off." Harry said, his voice was hoarser now. "And don't call  
  
me 'young man' I'm the same age as you, you know. Where are Sirius and Remus?"  
  
"Oh! I almost forgot." Reanna exclaimed, getting up. "For one thing, Remus is still in bed,  
  
he said he does not like full moons. More importantly, though, Sirius told me that if you were to  
  
wake up to give you that medicine." Harry made a face. "Sorry Harry, but although your fever is not  
  
as high as it was, it is still too high for mine or Sirius' comfort." She said. "And you're not focusing  
  
again, which means that your temperature is rising." She looked at him worriedly. "And you are  
  
shivering. Lie down."  
  
Harry obeyed gratefully. He had not wanted to be rude to Ron and Hermione, so he acted  
  
as though he was feeling fine. In truth though, he was feeling nearly as bad as he had been the last  
  
time he had woke up. He should have known that Reanna would read right through him. She  
  
knew him too well.  
  
"How could you tell that?" Hermione asked in surprise as she helped Harry lie down.  
  
Reanna gave him his potion and made him drink it before answering.  
  
"Easy. Every time he goes cross eyed without meaning to I know that things are getting out  
  
of focus. When he has a fever then that means that it is getting higher then normal. Of course,  
  
everyone knows that when someone's shivering increases when they have a fever it means their  
  
temperature is rising. Oh, and also I could feel it. Don't ask about that one, it is a strange  
  
connection we've always had." She explained.  
  
Harry by this time had his eyes closed and was drifting off to sleep. He heard Reanna  
  
starting to talk about something else and inwardly smiled. The soft lull of her voice gently sent him  
  
off to sleep.  
  
When Harry woke up later he was feeling much worse. He barely awoke enough to drink  
  
his potion and then he drifted back off into a feverish sleep. As time went on his condition did not  
  
seem to get any better. He would wake at night delirious and shaken from a nightmare. He did stay  
  
awake for a prolonged period of time for one day feeling hungry, but everything he ate seemed to  
  
come back up again. Sirius and Reanna never left his bedside, and Remus was not much better.  
  
The only time Remus left was to get Harry a potion or to get himself and the others something to  
  
eat.  
  
Reanna had been told everything, Harry had been told. When he was able to stay awake, she  
  
explained how Sirius and Remus had told her everything about magic and their world. He did not  
  
question it, thinking that it was only right for her to know. Besides, she would never tell anyone.  
  
He was told that the doctor came frequently now, but he was never awake to see her. He  
  
overheard Sirius telling Reanna and Remus that he was getting so worried that he was going to ask  
  
the doctor to just stay with them. The doctor did have other patients though, so that seemed  
  
unlikely. However, Harry seemed to be her main patient, and from what he had heard she was as  
  
worried about him as the rest were. Remus told him that she had been Harry's mother's best friend  
  
when they were at school, and was still a good friend of Sirius' and Remus'.  
  
Finally, when Harry's condition seemed at its lowest point, Sirius said that he had been  
  
researching to see if it might be some kind of reaction to the potion he had been drinking. He had  
  
found nothing yet. Harry stayed in a feverish sleep most of the time now, but every hour Reanna  
  
would wake him up. The doctor had said they should do this to make sure he did not go into a  
  
coma. Each time it was getting harder to wake him up.  
  
Harry was having other dreams as well. Alongside the ones about his uncle beating him,  
  
were the ones with Voldemort in them. He could never remember them, though. He just knew it  
  
was about Voldemort because he woke up with his scar hurting.  
  
Harry woke himself up one afternoon, but it was simply because of an extreme pain in his  
  
back. He lay still, not wanting to disturb anyone. He did not know what time it was, so he  
  
supposed that everyone could still be asleep. It was then that he realized there were hushed whispers  
  
around him.  
  
"Shush, you'll wake him." Sirius said softly. "Or worse, you'll wake Reanna."  
  
"Shush yourself, Sirius." Remus said. "Can you think of anything that might have caused  
  
this? It happened right after Ron and Hermione came."  
  
"But Trinity said that it was a double dose, she just did not catch it the first time. He had it  
  
the first time at the Dursley's." Sirius argued. "Besides, he has not had anything to eat, not anything  
  
that he has not thrown up anyway."  
  
"Actually, Sirius, what she said was that the second dose was almost completely full of the  
  
poison, and the first one was almost not noticeable and mistaken for a sickness easily." Remus  
  
sighed. "But you are right, he must have had the first dose at the Dursleys."  
  
"She did not know what the poison was though?" Sirius asked.  
  
"You've asked that already!" Remus said.  
  
"I don't remember." Sirius said meekly. Remus sighed again.  
  
"She said that until we find the person that did this, we will not be able to find the poison.  
  
Whoever that person is, they are the only ones who can cure him." Remus explained patiently.  
  
"Fine. How do we find out who the person is?" Sirius asked, worry creeping back into his  
  
voice. Remus sighed once more.  
  
"That's the hard part."  
  
It was at this point when Harry's scar suddenly erupted into pain. He was immediately  
  
plunged into blackness, unaware that he was crying out in his unconscious state. He heard a high  
  
pitched laugh, and suddenly a room came into view.  
  
"So Lucius, has the poison set in on Potter yet?" Harry recognized the speaker as Lord  
  
Voldemort, just last summer did he return.  
  
"Yes Master." The death eater said, bowing. Harry guessed it was Lucius Malfoy.  
  
"Good. That boy is as good as dead, no one will suspect to look in the ministry for what is  
  
wrong with the boy." Voldemort laughed.  
  
"It was a good plan, My Lord, if I may say so myself." Malfoy said, still kneeling.  
  
"Yes it was Lucius." Voldemort said. Malfoy bowed again and went to leave. "Oh, and  
  
Lucius?" Malfoy turned.  
  
"Yes master?"  
  
"Never distrust my judgment again. Crucio!" Voldemort laughed evilly as Malfoy screamed  
  
and writhed on the floor.  
  
Harry awoke suddenly, sweating and shaking. He remembered nothing of the dream, only  
  
that it was another of Voldemort. His scar was burning on his forehead, and Sirius was holding him  
  
in his arms. His back ached terribly, and his stomach suddenly lurched. His godfather held him  
  
closer, rocking him gently.  
  
"Are you awake?" Sirius asked softly, worry filling his blue eyes.  
  
"Yeah." Harry said hoarsely. He was still shaking as Sirius laid him back under the sheets.  
  
"It was another Voldemort dream, was it not?" Sirius asked. Harry nodded slightly, feeling  
  
weak. "Do you remember anything?" Harry shook his head, settling down in his bed. "Harry, you  
  
have to stay awake to take your potion." Sirius said as Harry closed his eyes. "Harry?"  
  
Harry made a small sound. He was feeling so tired, and sleep sounded so nice to him. He  
  
could hear someone talking to him, maybe shaking him gently. He ignored it and followed the  
  
blackness until he fell asleep.  
  
"He got worse after he ate that candy that Ron gave him." Reanna said, anger growing in her  
  
eyes.  
  
After Harry had drifted off once more Sirius and Remus had to give in and tell her about the poison. She then explained everything that had happened when she was watching Harry with Ron  
  
and Hermione.  
  
"We cannot suspect Ron, he is his best friend." Sirius said gently. Reanna turned on him.  
  
"I don't like him." She stated with fire in her eyes.  
  
"He said it was from the ministry, did he not?" Remus interrupted hastily. "It most likely  
  
came from there."  
  
"Oh, right." Reanna said sheepishly.  
  
"Right, here's what we do." Remus was pacing angrily across the floor. "Sirius, you'll stay  
  
here with Harry, make sure that you wake him up in about forty-five minutes." Reanna made a  
  
sound of protest. "Reanna, you have a job as well. Since Sirius cannot go to the ministry, remember  
  
he is wanted, you'll have to go. I'll go to the Dursleys to see what I can find there."  
  
"Why can I not go and see what I can find at the Dursleys?" Reanna protested.  
  
"One, you're only fifteen years old and that man could hurt you." Remus said. "And two, I  
  
don't trust you to keep your temper. I saw what you are capable of when we got Harry out of that  
  
Hell hole." His eyes were burning.  
  
"And you will keep your temper?" Reanna asked.  
  
"Believe me, the day Remus loses his temper is the day pigs fly and Hell freezes over." Sirius  
  
muttered.  
  
"Do we all understand our jobs?" Remus asked, ignoring Sirius.  
  
"No." Reanna said, looking confused. "What am I supposed to do? Just go snooping around  
  
for clues?"  
  
"No." Remus said. "You should ask people about things; say you're doing a survey on the  
  
ministry for some reason. You can make the rest up."  
  
"Talk to Arthur." Sirius told her.  
  
"All right." Reanna said, looking at her best friend again.  
  
"Come on then, I'll take you to the ministry then I'll head over to the Hellhole." Remus  
  
said, grimacing. "Come on Reanna."  
  
"If anything happens to him, you will be sorry, Sirius!" Reanna called back.  
  
"Don't worry, if anything happens to him I'll kill myself!" Sirius told her.  
  
Reanna stepped into the fire with Remus. The spacious fireplace gave them enough room  
  
for both, and Remus could yell the name. Reanna had learned all about everything magical while  
  
she was with Sirius and Remus. They told her everything after she did something to Vernon. They  
  
both claimed it was magic, and she personally agreed. She had always been fascinated with sorcery  
  
and whatnot.  
  
"Here we are." Remus said as they twirled out of the fireplace.  
  
Reanna looked around. "Right, now what do I do?"  
  
"Just write everything down that seems important, and things that do not seem important.  
  
When they ask why you are not using a Quick Quotes Quill, explain that you think that it takes  
  
things down rather differently. You can start right there, in Arthur Weasley's office. He'll be glad to  
  
help. You do not have to make up the story for him though, tell him what you are really doing."  
  
Remus said hurriedly.  
  
"Right. Good luck Remus." Reanna said.  
  
"Same to you Reanna." Remus said, and he turned back to the flames.  
  
"I'll need it." Reanna muttered as he disappeared. She took a deep breath and knocked on  
  
the door to the office he pointed out.  
  
"Come in." A voice said from inside.  
  
Reanna turned the knob and pushed the door open. She peeked around the door and saw a  
  
balding man with bright red hair and glasses sitting at a desk. He looked as though he was upset at  
  
something, but Reanna could not exactly tell what. He smiled at her as she walked in anyway.  
  
"Hello sir, would you be Mr. Weasley?" She asked timidly. God, the only time she was not  
  
shy around people was when Harry was hurt. She had to change that.  
  
"Yes I am, may I help you?" Mr. Weasley said, forcing a smile wider.  
  
"Yes, I think you can." Reanna said. "See, my name is Reanna Pierce, I'm here for Remus  
  
Lupin, well actually for Harry, but." Mr. Weasley leaped out of his chair and went around his desk  
  
making Reanna jump.  
  
"You're here for Harry?" He asked desperately.  
  
"Yes." Reanna said timidly.  
  
"What's wrong? I knew he was sick and hurt, but why would you need to ask questions of  
  
the ministry." Mr. Weasley looked rather desperate.  
  
"They said to tell the truth." Reanna muttered. She looked at him. "He's been poisoned. It  
  
was slipped in his food, and some of it happened while he was with Remus, another friend, and I.  
  
The only thing he has eaten since he has been away from his earlier guardians is a piece of candy that  
  
a boy sent over. He said his father got it from the people at the ministry." Reanna took a deep  
  
breath.  
  
"Oh god." Mr. Weasley muttered, sitting down on his desk. He put his face in his hands.  
  
"Oh god."  
  
"What, what is it?" Reanna asked, a bit alarmed.  
  
"The boy, Ron, I'm his father. I was worried about Harry, and thought he could do with  
  
some cheering. I bought him a bag of candy and next thing I know everyone is handing me  
  
something to give him. I can't believe I caused that, I can't believe it." Mr. Weasley sounded  
  
extremely upset, but Reanna suddenly hardened.  
  
"You sent the candy?" She asked. It was all she could do to keep from screaming at him.  
  
"You're the one who I was directed to by Remus, and it turns out you're the culprit! I don't need to  
  
go snooping around, I've already accomplished my purpose."  
  
"Wait!" Mr. Weasley said, holding up a hand. "Please, wait. You don't understand, I never  
  
meant to give Harry poisoned food. You do not know how much Harry means to me, how much he  
  
means to my family. My son is his best friend, my wife is like a mother to him, and he's like a son  
  
to me. I would never harm him. It must have come from one of the ministry members, that's the  
  
only way. I assure you, I did not poison him." Reanna looked at him, and calmed. He was telling  
  
the truth.  
  
"I'm sorry, I did not mean to burst out like that, it is just." She said quietly.  
  
"It's alright." Mr. Weasley said. Something twinkled slightly in his eye. "Although, for a  
  
shy little girl you sure can turn into something awful."  
  
"Harry calls me an overprotective guard dog." Reanna said, laughing slightly. The she  
  
sobered, remembering why she was there.  
  
"Right then, why do I not give you a tour, and you can ask questions while you're at it?" Mr.  
  
Weasley asked, getting up.  
  
"That's fine." Reanna said, following him.  
  
"Oh, and watch out for the rats, we've had an infestation." Mr. Weasley said as one  
  
scampered by.  
  
"Who would this be?" A woman asked, smiling at Reanna as she walked by.  
  
"Oh, hello Miss Golden." Mr. Weasley said, stopping.  
  
"Hello Mr. Weasley, what are you up to today?" Miss Golden asked.  
  
"Well, I'm just giving a tour to my little friend here. She wants to interview each member,  
  
just briefly." Mr. Weasley explained.  
  
"Well, I'll be happy to answer any question she has." Miss Golden said.  
  
"Thank you ma'am." Reanna said. It was easier to talk with someone with her. She started  
  
asking question, jotting things down as she went.  
  
"Well, I rarely buy candy, but I did buy some for a sick boy just a week ago." Miss Golden  
  
was saying in answer to Reanna's question.  
  
"Oh really?" Reanna asked, jotting it down. "Out of curiosity, do you keep any rat killer or  
  
bug disinfectant in your office? I'm seeing who keeps organic." She smiled winningly.  
  
"Why no, I don't believe in poisons." Miss Golden said matter-of- factly. "They harm too  
  
much in the environment and in people."  
  
"Thank you Miss Golden." Reanna said.  
  
"Thank you, Reanna." Miss Golden said, and she smiled as she walked away.  
  
"I like her well enough." Reanna said to Mr. Weasley quietly. "She seems trustworthy."  
  
Things went on well enough. Reanna asked basically the same questions of each person,  
  
although they did differ slightly according to the answers that were given. She said the same of each  
  
person, either that they were trustworthy enough, or that they did seem to be guilty. She did dislike  
  
some of the people, such as Avery and Nott, but she said she had a feeling they were too stupid to do  
  
anything like that. She was beginning to give up hope when they met a man in the hall.  
  
"Why, who is this, Arthur?" A cold voice asked. Reanna felt shivers go up her spine and she  
  
spun around defiantly. Looking at them in an amused way was a man Reanna knew she did not  
  
like. His gray eyes had no warmth in them, and his face was pale and proud. His long blond hair  
  
was pulled back into a ponytail, and his lips were a deep red, quite contrasting to his face.  
  
"Why hello, sir." She said as politely as she could. The man sneered.  
  
"Is this another one of your Mudblood friends?" The man asked of Mr. Weasley.  
  
"This is Reanna Pierce, she is doing a little interview of each of the ministry members." Mr.  
  
Weasley said, Reanna noticed how his eyes became cold as he spoke to the man. "Reanna, this is Mr.  
  
Malfoy."  
  
"You're interviewing the ministry members?" Mr. Malfoy asked, smirking. "You do not need  
  
to bother yourself with me."  
  
"But I am sure, Mr. Malfoy, that you are very important in the ministry." Reanna said,  
  
trying to bribe him.  
  
"I am, certainly, and that is why you shall not question me. I will not tolerate it." With that  
  
Mr. Malfoy swept down the hall, his robes billowing behind him. Then he turned and sneered at  
  
her. "And why are you wearing Muggle clothing?" He turned back and went into his office.  
  
"I don't like him." Reanna said, glaring after him.  
  
"None of us do." Mr. Weasley said. "He does hate Harry, but I would not think." He  
  
shook his head. "What am I thinking? Of course he would. You have a suspect."  
  
"Thank you Mr. Weasley, for your help." Reanna said, smiling at the man.  
  
"You're quite welcome, Reanna. Tell Harry I wish him to get better soon. I better not send  
  
anything, you know what happened last time I did that." Mr. Weasley smiled at her then led her to  
  
the fire place. She threw the powder in, and yelled out the name. In an instant she was twirling  
  
through the fire. 


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing but Reanna and anything else you don't find familiar.  
  
Chapter 3  
  
Remus stepped hurriedly out of his friend's house, thanking her for letting him use her fire.  
  
The witch told him it was no problem at all, and he was welcome to come back when he was done.  
  
Remus thanked her again and hurried down the sidewalk toward Privet Drive.  
  
Anyone who stood outside the house and looked at it would never suspect anything like  
  
what had happened would ever take place, Remus thought. The garden was cute with flowers,  
  
although he did notice a few bloody handprints around the flowers. He grimaced as he realized that  
  
the Dursleys must have made Harry do them, even though he was injured. He gritted his teeth and  
  
forced the thought out of his mind. He was not here for revenge, but to help Harry. There was  
  
nothing else that could be done about the Dursleys until Harry was well again. He quickly went up  
  
the steps and knocked on the door. A skinny blond woman answered she started to glare at Remus,  
  
but then it turned to a mixture of surprise.  
  
"Remus Lupin! What are you doing here?" She gasped.  
  
Remus had met her on several occasions over the summer when he and the others were visiting Lily.  
  
They had never liked her much as she was always bossy and bullying. The only thing that they liked  
  
was that although she was rather mean to her sister, everyone could see that she had a soft spot for  
  
her. She was most likely afraid of what all the other children in her neighborhood would think.  
  
"How nice to see you too, Petunia." Remus said, forcing a smile. Her expression turned to a  
  
worried one.  
  
"If you're here to see Vernon about the boy, he's at work." She said, starting to glare again.  
  
"It is most likely a good thing that your husband is at work, I do not think I want to cross  
  
him at this moment." Remus said. "Now, may I come in, I have a few questions for you." Petunia  
  
glared.  
  
"All right, I suppose." She snapped.  
  
"Thank you." Remus said walking by her as she held the door open.  
  
"Now then, what is it? Make it snappy." Petunia said, sitting down and not offering him a  
  
seat. He sat anyway.  
  
"It is about Harry." Remus said. "First of all, have you noticed that he has been sick lately?"  
  
"Sick?" Petunia asked, looking as though she could not believe her ears. "The boy was faking  
  
it. Trying to get out of his fair share of work."  
  
"But he did say he was sick?" Remus asked.  
  
"Yes. The last day he was with us only." Petunia said, looking impatient.  
  
"Right then, what did he eat before that?" Remus asked patiently.  
  
"Same thing he always eats. He said he was not hungry that morning, so I did not give him  
  
anything. The night before he got his usual celery stick and a cookie. The cookie was extra of  
  
course." She said hastily.  
  
"A cookie?" Remus asked. "Were these homemade?"  
  
"No." Petunia snapped. "A man stopped by and insisted that I give one of the cookies to  
  
every person in the household." Her eyes softened slightly. "I did promise, and I did feel sorry for the  
  
boy, a little. Not much, though."  
  
"What did this man look like?" Remus asked.  
  
"He was in a robe, like your folk wear, but it completely covered him. I did see his eyes  
  
though, they were a cold grey. Made me shiver right down to the bone." Petunia shivered at the  
  
memory. "It was as though he forced me to promise, then the memory of those eyes kept me from  
  
breaking it." She shivered again.  
  
"A cold grey?" Remus was instantly alert.  
  
"Yes." Was her reply. "And a bit of blond hair poked out of the hood. Why do you need to  
  
know, anyway?" Her tone turned snappish again.  
  
"You'll never need to know." Remus said. A car was suddenly heard in the doorway.  
  
"Oh dear, Vernon's home." Petunia said, getting up. "Watch yourself as you go out." She  
  
said as Remus went to leave. "We've had a rat infestation. I think I cleared most of them out but  
  
you never know." Remus thanked her and headed to the living room.  
  
He was met by a beefy man with a large moustache and brown hair. He was cruel looking,  
  
with strong muscles and a cold sneer. Remus recognized him as Vernon Dursley. He immediately  
  
felt anger boiling up inside him at this man. He was the one who made Harry in so much pain. He  
  
was the one that should be suffering.  
  
"What are you doing here?" His voice was gruff, and Remus' eyes flashed at the sound.  
  
"I was just leaving." Remus tried to be as polite as he could.  
"Good." Vernon was about to walk away, but then he stopped and sneered at him. "Aren't  
  
you one of those people that came to pick the boy up?"  
  
"I am." Remus said, holding back his anger.  
  
"Well, I want to tell you that whatever that boy says is a lie. He deserved what he got, he  
  
deserved every bit of it. He'll lie to you, say he was sick when I told him to work, but he was faking  
  
it. If he wanted to not do his chores, then he would have to face the consequences. I'm just warning  
  
you, that freak." Vernon was cut off by a loud SMACK!  
  
Remus stood, shaking with fury, with his fist raised. Vernon looked at him, surprised and  
  
hurt. His jaw was broken, and he gaped a bit at him. Realizing what he had done, Remus swept out  
  
of the room. Before he went he turned.  
  
"Never call Harry a freak. He's not the liar, you are." He hissed. "You're the freak, for  
  
abusing him like you did. He never did anything wrong." With that he swept out of the room and  
  
towards his friend's house. Realizing he had found something he hurriedly thanked his friend once  
  
more, and stepped in the flames, spinning through the fire back to his house.  
  
"Harry, Harry wake up. Come on kiddo, please don't do this to me." Harry could hear a  
  
voice coming from far away. He tried to push it away and fall back into the blackness, but his body  
  
would not let him. "Please Harry, you've been asleep too long."  
  
Harry moaned and pulled himself toward the voice. He felt himself waking completely and  
  
the usual heat and pain greeted him. He felt hotter then before, and he realized he had not taken his  
  
potion last time he awoke. He could still hear the voice pleading with him, and he recognized it as  
  
Sirius'. Moaning, he opened his eyes.  
  
Sirius was bending over him, looking frantic and worried. He relaxed as Harry opened his  
  
eyes. "Thank god. I thought I had lost you. I've been trying to wake you for ten minutes." Harry  
  
frowned, he had only been hearing him for about five. "You need your potion."  
  
Harry groaned as Sirius helped him sit up. He had given up on talking when he was so hot a  
  
long time ago. Sometimes he could barely understand himself, and half the time the others could  
  
not understand him. Sirius arranged the pillows so he could sit up and Harry gratefully leaned his  
  
head against them. Sirius smiled grimly and picked up the steaming potion from beside his bedside.  
  
Harry allowed him to help him drink it, he had gotten used to this by now, and he was not feeling  
  
up to protesting it.  
  
"You going to go back to sleep?" Sirius asked gently. Harry shook his head.  
  
"I'm not tired." He mumbled, his words jumbling themselves as usual. "Where are Remus  
  
and Reanna?" He asked as Sirius sent a worried glance at him.  
  
"Trying to find something that will make you better." Sirius soothed.  
  
"Something about the poison?" Harry mumbled before he knew what he was saying. Sirius  
  
froze.  
  
"How did you know about that?" He asked, caressing his hair gently.  
  
"I was awake when you were talking about it." Harry said. His eyes tried to flutter closed,  
  
but he forced them open. Sirius swallowed.  
  
"Yes, their asking the Dursleys and the ministry about anything that could help." He said  
  
gently. Even when Harry was injured and delirious he was too smart for his own good.  
  
It was at that moment that two people came bursting out of the fire upstairs. Neither  
  
noticed each other, and rushed up to where Sirius and Harry were. They still looked worried, yet  
  
hopeful.  
  
"I found something!" They chorused. It was then they noticed each other.  
  
"Oh." Reanna said.  
  
"Sorry Reanna, please continue." Remus said. Reanna was about to continue when she  
  
noticed Harry.  
  
"Oh! Harry, you're awake!" She exclaimed. He smiled at her and scooted over a bit so she  
  
could climb up. Reanna turned to the others. "Could we talk for a bit, please? Remus, why do you  
  
not tell Sirius about what you found while you're at it?" Sirius and Remus smiled but did not say  
  
anything. They simply left the room in silence.  
  
"Thanks, Reanna." Harry said weakly. Reanna smiled softly at him.  
  
"For what?" She asked gently.  
  
"For everything you've done for me, especially what you just did. That must have taken a lot  
  
of courage. I don't know why you did it for me." Harry smiled at her, but it came out more like a  
  
grimace.  
  
"You know I would do anything for you." Reanna said softly. "And you're right that did take  
  
a lot of courage, but each time I talked to someone I just had to think of you and I would find my  
  
voice." She looked away suddenly. "God, I don't know what I'm going to do if Remus and I are not  
  
right about our suspects. I don't want to lose you Harry."  
  
"You won't." Harry said softly, trying to make his words clear. "Believe me, I don't want to  
  
die." He sounded even more tired as he spoke, and more faint.  
  
"All right, Remus told me what he suspects." Sirius said, coming into the room with Remus.  
  
His expression softened when he looked at Harry. "Are you still awake, kiddo? Why don't you try to  
  
get some rest?" Harry shook his head.  
  
"That's alright, I'm fine." Harry said hoarsely.  
  
Sirius still looked concerned but decided that what they were talking about was more  
  
important. Reanna maintained her position on the bed while Sirius and Remus came over to sit on  
  
the chairs.  
  
"I told Sirius what I found out." Remus said to Reanna and Harry. "Before I state what my  
  
view is though, Reanna why don't you explain yours."  
  
Reanna sighed and started to explain what had happened at the ministry. She put some of  
  
the things that the others had said in the story, but said they were most likely not important. She  
  
liked most everyone there, all except one man.  
  
"This man, he was just, weird." Reanna explained. "He had cold grey eyes, and long blond  
  
hair. He was rather pale as well. I did not like him, and he flat out refused to answer any  
  
questions."  
  
"Malfoy." Harry muttered.  
  
Reanna looked at him in surprise. "You know him?"  
  
"Everyone knows Malfoy." Sirius said in disgust. His eyes were blazing. "He's rich, in the  
  
ministry, and powerful. I do not believe anyone likes him, but he has too much power to be defied.  
  
He knows that if he does something, most likely he can get away with it. What makes him even  
  
more suspicious, though, is the fact that he's a death eater."  
  
"A death eater?" Reanna questioned.  
  
"Servants to Voldemort." Remus explained. "Voldemort is the dark lord in our world."  
  
"And he wants Harry dead this badly?" Reanna asked. Harry, Sirius, and Remus all flinched.  
  
"Oh." Reanna said quietly. "Some grudge thing?"  
  
"I'll tell you about it later, Rea." Harry said quietly.  
  
"Anyway, Remus came up with the same thing." Sirius said, frowning worriedly. "Harry, are  
  
you sure you don't want to go back to sleep? You've been up for an awfully long time. You don't  
  
want to wear yourself out."  
  
"I'm fine, Sirius." Harry muttered. He felt like he did not want to talk again. He might  
  
have to sleep whether he wanted to or not.  
  
"Right then, we have to find some way to get Malfoy to either tell what the poison is, or give  
  
the antidote." Remus said.  
  
"How about we knock it out of him?" Sirius growled, clenching his hand into a fist.  
  
"Although for once I agree with you that is nearly impossible." Remus said frowning.  
  
Harry fought to keep himself awake. He did not want to go back to sleep now, he wanted to  
  
help. It was his life they were trying to save, and it did not seem right for them to do all the work.  
  
If he just thought about it he was sure he could think of a way to get Malfoy to give the antidote  
  
willingly. He just had to think. Distantly, he felt someone gently laying him down completely, and  
  
he drifted off to sleep.  
  
Harry awoke slowly, keeping himself partly in sleep. He liked the feeling of the gentle lull  
  
around him. If he awoke he would have to feel pain and heat. Here though, he was safe. Someone  
  
was calling his name again. They sounded frantic. He pulled himself a little farther toward  
  
consciousness, and quickly found the pain. He immediately tried to jerk himself back into the  
  
blackness, but something stopped him. Forcing himself to pull farther toward the voice, he bit back  
  
the pain and recognized the voice as Reanna's. Heat overwhelmed him, but now he refused to drift  
  
back off. Reanna sounded upset; he needed to find out what was wrong. He slowly pulled himself  
  
toward the voice, until it was almost completely clear. The pain and the heat were almost  
  
unbearable, but he ignored them. Painfully, he forced his eyes open.  
  
Reanna was above him. Her face wavered in and out of view, but he could see the tears on  
  
her cheeks. Her green eyes were full of worry. She gasped when he opened his eyes and hugged  
  
him. "Oh god! You scared me to death. You weren't answering! I tried and tried."  
  
"Reanna?" A voice came from behind them. "Can I look at him now, please?" Reanna slowly  
  
got up and sat near the edge of the bed. "Out of the room, all of you please." Reanna hesitated but  
  
then followed the woman's orders.  
  
Harry did not recognize this new voice, or the person who was coming up. She had long  
  
strawberry blond hair which was pulled back into a pony tail. Her grayish blue eyes held worry in  
  
them as she approached Harry. If she had been smiling Harry was sure she would have dimples and  
  
straight white teeth.  
  
"I don't suppose you would remember me." She said gently as she approached. "I'm your  
  
doctor, Trinity Bayer. You've been either unconscious or delirious every time I came to see you, and  
  
of course you would not remember me from when you were a baby."  
  
"What - What happened?" Harry tried to ask, but his voice would not respond. Trinity  
  
shushed him.  
  
"I just need to look you over and see if I can do anything to keep what has been happening  
  
from happening." She said gently. A few minutes later she stood up. "All right, I'll be leaving now."  
  
She left the room and immediately Reanna came racing in.  
  
Harry had already settled himself back on the pillows, still exhausted. He wanted to drift  
  
back off into the blackness once more, but he was sure Sirius, Remus, and Reanna would not be  
  
happy about that. Besides, he wanted to find out what had happened. Reanna had already attached  
  
herself to Harry, but pulled away and settled for sitting by him. She still sent him worried glances  
  
every now and again though.  
  
Sirius and Remus came in a few minutes later both looking grim and worried. They settled  
  
themselves on the chairs beside Harry's bedside. Reanna gently helped Harry sit up, and Harry did  
  
not protest. He had gotten the idea that they did not want him drifting off to sleep again until they  
  
talked to him. For comfort reasons, Reanna gently took his hand.  
  
"We thought we should explain to you what is going on, just so you can be aware." Sirius  
  
said grimly, looking at Harry through worried eyes. "First of all, we're trying to find out a way of  
  
making Malfoy confess, but we cannot think of any. The important thing though, is what just  
  
happened."  
  
"What did happen?" Harry asked, finally finding his voice. It was weaker and scratchier then  
  
it had been since he was taken from the Dursleys. Sirius swallowed.  
  
"Do you remember us calling you?" He asked gently. Harry frowned.  
  
"I remember Reanna calling me about ten or fifteen minutes before I woke up, but that's  
  
all." He said hoarsely.  
  
"Nothing else?" Sirius prompted desperately. Harry thought harder.  
  
"Only that I liked the feeling of being asleep more then usual, I did not want to wake up."  
  
He said slowly. Sirius' frown deepened.  
  
"You don't remember me calling you at all?" He asked. Harry shook his head.  
  
"Did you?" He asked.  
  
"We did not think you were responding, Trinity insisted we find out." Remus explained  
  
gently. "We had thought you finally slipped into a coma." Reanna grimaced as he said this, and  
  
Harry squeezed her hand gently in reassurance.  
  
"We cannot insure that it does not happen again." Sirius said. He looked at his godson with  
  
love, but with the heightening worry. "Harry, you'll have to make sure that if you here anyone  
  
calling you when you're asleep, you do your best to answer them." His eyes were pleading.  
  
"Right." Harry croaked.  
  
"Now, about getting Malfoy to tell what the poison is." Remus said, his lips straightening  
  
tightly. He looked nearly as worried as Sirius, his gray eyes swirling with a mixture of anger at  
  
Malfoy and worry while he said this.  
  
"Are you sure that giving him a few hard knocks would not make him tell us?" Sirius asked.  
  
Harry leaned on Reanna for support as he felt himself become tired, but he once again refused to fall  
  
asleep.  
  
"We would get in trouble, you know that." Remus reprimanded his friend.  
  
"Don't you have some truth spell or something that you can use?" Reanna asked. Remus  
  
shook his head.  
  
"It would not work. We could not go beating up on Ministry officials. Nothing but a  
  
potion of some kind would do, but."  
  
"Veratism?" Harry asked. Reanna looked confused, but Remus smiled slightly and Harry  
  
could see Sirius' hopes lifting.  
  
"A truth serum," Sirius explained to Reanna.  
  
"It just might work." Remus said. "Now the problem is getting him here."  
  
"We don't have to." Reanna said, looking thoughtful. "If one of us can slip it in his drink  
  
then ask to speak to him in his office, that should be all we need."  
  
"Brilliant." Remus said. "Reanna, would you slip it in his coffee?"  
  
"Of course." Reanna said, her green eyes burning with hatred toward the victim.  
  
"Then it is settled." Remus said. "I'll wait outside with Arthur, then once you give the sign  
  
we'll come in. Everyone else will just think it is a meeting and will not disturb us. Sirius, you will of  
  
course stay here." Sirius nodded to show he understood. Remus got up. "Harry, stay awake. I'm  
  
going to get another dose of fever reducer. How do you feel?"  
  
"Hot." Harry admitted. He usually would have denied it, but he was feeling quite drained of  
  
energy and in quite a bit of pain to argue with himself. Remus frowned in worry.  
  
"That'll be an extra strong one." He said. He briskly went out of the room.  
  
Harry tried to obey his former professor, but it was hard. He was now barely supporting  
  
himself, but Reanna seemed not to mind his weight. When his eyes tried to flutter close, however,  
  
she became more worried.  
  
"Please don't fall asleep Harry." She begged gently. "If you're fever rises any higher, you  
  
won't be able to force yourself to wake up."  
  
"Sorry." He muttered.  
  
"Talk." He heard Sirius say. "It will help to keep you awake."  
  
"What about?" Harry's words were coming more slurred. Gently, Reanna shook him  
  
slightly.  
  
"Anything, just don't fall asleep." Sirius' voice came from a long ways off.  
  
It was no use; the terrible heat that was building overpowered everything. Harry had a  
  
feeling that the poison was taking one of its worse throws, and coming closer to the end of its job.  
  
He shook himself so he stayed slightly awake, but he could not stay that way for long. Distantly, he \ heard Reanna curse.  
  
"Remus! Hurry up, please!" The words were muffled, as though there was a block of some  
  
kind between his ears and the sound, but he could still hear the desperate worry in her voice. "His  
  
temperature is rising faster then it has been!"  
  
Someone lifted his head slightly, coaxing him to help. Too weak to protest, Harry allowed  
  
the person to do so. Something cooling was put to his lips, but he could not swallow. The same  
  
person helping him sit up rubbed his throat gently and whatever it was slipped down. The  
  
unbearable heat around him lessened and the liquid cooled his throat. Some of his strength was  
  
brought back and he swallowed what was put in his mouth. Things cleared slightly, but Harry did  
  
not have the energy to open his eyes. He heard Reanna's voice, now clearer, soothing him gently.  
  
He lay down with her help and drifted off to sleep.  
  
"Harry, wake up." Harry heard Sirius whisper. "Reanna and Remus will be back in no time."  
  
Harry groaned slightly. The potion that they had given him earlier must have been quite  
  
strong indeed. It had kept his fever down until now, and he was sure he had been asleep for quite a  
  
while. He felt Sirius shake him slightly, and he opened his eyes. They were heavy, and as soon as he  
  
pushed himself to full consciousness the pain returned. He moaned and tried to go back to sleep.  
  
"No Harry, you have to take another dose of the potion." Sirius whispered.  
  
Obediently, Harry let him gently help him to sit up. He looked around, still exhausted and  
  
saw that Sirius and he were the only ones in the room. Confused, he tried to ask where Reanna and  
  
Remus were. All that came out however, was a hoarse cough and a strange sound. His condition  
  
was getting worse.  
  
"Shh." Sirius said gently. He handed him his potion, and helped him to drink it. When he  
  
was finished Sirius explained, "Reanna and Remus went to the ministry, they should be back soon."  
  
As though on cue, footsteps were heard on the stairs. Sirius got up hopefully as the two  
  
rushed in. He looked much like a dog who was waiting for a treat. However, when he saw the look  
  
on both of their faces, his own face fell. Harry could tell that they had gotten nothing, or almost  
  
nothing, out of Malfoy.  
  
"Nothing." Remus sighed, plopping into a chair.  
  
"We gave him the Veratism, but he said he did not do it." Reanna said, making herself  
  
comfortable on the bed next to Harry.  
  
"Great, just great." Sirius groaned.  
  
"So we've got another dead end." Reanna said quietly. She sent worried eyes over to Harry,  
  
who barely noticed.  
  
Harry was deep in thought. If Malfoy did not put the poison in either things, then who  
  
had? Remus described the man Aunt Petunia had described, and it certainly sounded like him. He  
  
was a death eater, and worked at the ministry. It all led back to him. Harry shook his head slightly  
  
absentmindedly. He thought more about what both Remus and Reanna had said. Wait a second!  
  
"Remus, Aunt Petunia said there was a rat infestation?" Harry asked, his voice coming out  
  
weak and hoarse. He coughed slightly from the effort. The room tilted then righted itself as a wave  
  
of dizziness came over him, but he ignored it.  
  
"Yes." Remus said. "But what does that have to do with anything?"  
  
Sirius however had caught on. "Arthur Weasley said the same thing in the ministry!" He  
  
exclaimed. Realization dawned on Remus' face.  
  
"How could we be so stupid?" He muttered. "Malfoy was only a decoy, the whole time it  
  
was."  
  
"Wormtail." Sirius finished for him in a snarl.  
  
Harry nodded slightly, making his head pound. Wormtail was another name for Peter  
  
Pettigrew, the man who betrayed his parents. He had rejoined last year with his master Voldemort,  
  
and helped bring him back to power with Harry's blood.  
  
"Wormtail?" Reanna questioned.  
  
"He's another death eater." Remus explained patiently.  
  
"And how do you know him so well?" Reanna asked, puzzled. "And what is up with the rat  
  
thing?"  
  
"He used to be a friend of ours." Remus said. "We went to school together, but he went over  
  
to the dark side who knows when,"  
  
"And he can turn himself into a rat at will." Sirius said.  
  
"I told you about him, er, sort of anyway." Harry said to Reanna quietly. The room was  
  
positively spinning now, but he did his best to focus.  
  
"Ohhh, that one." Reanna said. "How do we catch him now?"  
  
"My best guess would be that he is somewhere around here." Remus said. Sirius and Reanna  
  
looked at him in puzzlement. "He's already hit the Ministry and the Dursleys, he'll hit here next."  
  
He explained.  
  
"Of course, he'll want to sneak it into something else." Reanna breathed. Suddenly the color  
  
drained dramatically from her face.  
  
"What is it?" Sirius asked her, concerned.  
  
"Like a potion?" She whispered.  
  
"My god, the basement." Remus breathed, and jumped up and ran out of the room. Sirius  
  
and Reanna exchanged worried looks. Five or ten minutes later they heard footsteps on the stairs  
  
and panicked squeaks.  
  
"He found him!" Sirius said, looking relieved.  
  
Remus marched in, and threw what looked like a man to the ground. Harry's view was  
  
blurry from dizziness, but he could still make out the features of Peter Pettigrew. He was a small  
  
man, about Harry's height. He had small watery eyes not unlike a rat, and was balding. The most  
  
noticing feature was a silver hand in place of his left arm, which was a 'gift' from Voldemort last  
  
year. He was plump, and was now cowering slightly at Remus' feet. Sirius got up in anger.  
  
"He was in the basement behind the shelves." Remus snarled. "Reanna, do you have the  
  
Veratism?" Reanna nodded and brought it out.  
  
"He's not a Ministry official, I don't see why a few knocks his way couldn't do him some  
  
good." Sirius growled.  
  
"Stay away! I-I won't say a thing!" Wormtail shouted suddenly, standing and backing up  
  
slowly.  
  
"Just tell us what the antidote is, Peter." Remus said, his voice still icy cold but softer. "Just  
  
tell us and all we will do is turn you in." Sirius looked as though he might disagree, but Remus sent  
  
him a swift look.  
  
"I-I wouldn't tell you if I knew!" Wormtail shrieked, although trembling. Harry flinched;  
  
the high pitch made his head ring. He was having trouble drawing each breath for some reason. "V-  
  
Voldemort keeps us in the dark about what he does, we just run errands!"  
  
"Liar." Sirius hissed. "You know what the antidote is, because he probably tested the poison  
  
on you first. And you know very well that whoever uses a poison must know an antidote, or the  
  
poison becomes useless." Wormtail shook his head, although the way he looked made Harry be  
  
suspicious of whether this was not just a wild guess.  
  
"Just tell us what it is." Remus said firmly, his voice getting a bit louder. "And be thankful  
  
that I caught you before you put the poison in the potion." Wormtail suddenly quieted.  
  
"Ah, now that's where you're wrong." He said, suddenly becoming less nervous. "That last  
  
cupful you gave him, Sirius, was almost completely poison. Isn't it nice, knowing you've killed your  
  
own godson?" He looked at Harry, who was fighting to stay awake.  
  
Sirius, enraged, moved forward but Reanna beat him to it. Twisting out of Harry's grasp  
  
easily, she leapt forward at the man. Harry sluggishly tried to grab her before she jumped, but he  
  
was weakening greatly. Before he could do anything she was on top of Wormtail. The man blinked  
  
once in surprise, before realizing what was happening. His eyes hardened and a light suddenly  
  
showed around Reanna. She was thrown back into the wall behind her. Harry tried to cry out and  
  
move forward, but he found he could not. All he wanted to do was fall asleep, fall deep into sleep.  
  
The last thing he was aware of was Remus and Sirius moving forward onto Wormtail, and then he  
  
knew no more. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4  
Harry groaned as he tried to move slightly. Pain flew through him at  
the movement, and he lay still. What had happened? Harry racked his brain  
and came with the memory of Wormtail being in the room, saying that he had  
put another dose of poison stronger then either of the others in the last  
potion Harry had taken. Harry immediately stilled completely. Was he  
dead? No, he decided as he tried to move once more. He hurt too much to  
be dead.  
He slowly opened his eyes. Everything was blurry, making him  
slightly dizzy. He was a little hot, but considering what he had felt like  
earlier this was a great improvement. Next to his bed was a blurry figure,  
which Harry made out as Sirius when he squinted. His godfather was looking  
better, and smiled when he opened his eyes. Harry suddenly found himself  
in a tight embrace.  
"You're awake." Sirius muttered. "I was so afraid we did not get the  
antidote to you in time. How are you feeling?" He asked as Harry settled  
himself back on the bed and tried to focus.  
"Better." Harry said hoarsely.  
He squinted again, trying to make things go in focus. His glasses  
were suddenly slid onto his face and everything became much sharper. A  
thought suddenly entered his mind.  
"Where's Reanna, is she alright?" He asked, remembering what had  
happened. He coughed; his lungs still had damage to them.  
"Don't worry, she's fine." Sirius soothed. "After giving her a  
talking to, we sent her to bed. She's in the room next door."  
"How long." Harry started, a sudden bout of tiredness came over him.  
He sank further back onto the pillows, but Sirius had gotten the gist.  
"You've been asleep for about a week." He said. Previous worry  
showed on his face again. "Trinity told us that you had not gone into a  
coma and that the poison was almost completely gone, but you know me."  
Harry smiled, but was interrupted by a yawn. He was too tired to talk  
anymore. Yawning again he let his eyes close. "I'll have a surprise for  
you when you are better." He heard Sirius say before the blackness took him  
once more.  
Harry did not remember much of when he was awake until a few days  
later. He was slightly aware that when we would awaken Sirius or Remus  
would be by his bedside to greet him and ask him how he was feeling. He  
could never, not even afterwards, remember most of what they talked about  
however. He always fell asleep quite soon after he woke up, so this was  
not surprising. One awakening he did remember, however, was late in the  
day two days after he had first woken up. He opened his eyes to see  
someone by his bedside, but it turned out not to be Sirius or Remus.  
"Sirius and Remus finally let me out of bed yesterday." Reanna said  
when she saw her best friend was awake.  
"Reanna!" Harry said, his voice not as hoarse as it was the first  
time. She hugged him.  
"How are you feeling?" She asked gently.  
"Much better." He told her, doing his best to smile. "How are you?"  
No matter how tired or still sick he was, he still remembered to ask of  
Reanna's well being. She made a face.  
"Both of them overreacted, Sirius and Remus I mean. I just hit my  
head a little hard. Trinity fixed it up quick though." She snapped her  
fingers to demonstrate. "They kept me in bed for way too long." She made  
another face. "Oh!" She exclaimed suddenly. "Sirius wanted me to give this  
to you. He said you needed it just in case."  
It was Harry's turn to make a face as a steaming potion was held out  
to him. He took it out of her hands, however, and looked at it. He  
smelled it a bit, and decided it smelled alright. He was acting paranoid,  
and he knew it, but he could not help it after what happened last time.  
Reanna noticed what he was doing.  
"Don't worry," She said. "Remus checked all the potion supply for any  
sort of poison that the rat might have put in, but he did not find any. He  
even had a specialist come in, and replaced the ingredients."  
Feeling better, Harry downed the potion. He gave the steaming goblet  
back to Reanna, making faces that he could not keep back. Reanna smiled.  
"It tastes a-awful." Harry said through a yawn.  
"I'll bet." Reanna said. She frowned when there was no answer.  
"Harry?" Harry had once again fallen asleep. She smiled and covered him a  
bit better.  
Harry sighed contentedly as he awoke about a week later. He  
remembered nothing at the moment, only that he did not particularly want to  
wake up. He was so warm. The fever had almost disappeared, but Sirius and  
Remus were obviously worried that if he got cold it would come back full  
force. Instead of the heat being unbearable, as it usually was, he found  
it quite comfortable. He moved slightly, causing a slight pain to go  
through him. He winced, but the pain certainly was not as bad as what he  
usually felt.  
Slowly, he forced his heavy eyelids open. As soon as he succeeded in  
doing this he blinked. Everything was a large blur. He blinked a few more  
times and things became a little clearer. When he squinted he could make  
out his surroundings. Beside him on a chair was Reanna, reading a book.  
He smiled slightly when he saw her, and sat up. Pain flew through him at  
his movements, but he ignored it. Reanna started and looked up, then  
smiled and handed him his glasses. Harry quickly put them on and things  
came in sharper focus. He could see Sirius behind her on the small couch  
in the room, and Remus on the chair by the desk. Both were fast asleep.  
Reanna giggled when Harry raised a questioning eyebrow.  
"We were supposed to take turns staying up with you just in case  
something else happened, but neither of them wanted to switch shifts at  
night. Eventually they just zonked out." She explained, giggling harder.  
"Obviously you haven't gotten much sleep either." Harry said, his  
voice hoarse. He smiled.  
"Sirius put a sleeping charm on me so I would fall asleep, so I'm  
fine." She explained.  
"Wait, how did you know about." Harry questioned. He remembered  
nothing of them talking about it when he was sick.  
"Don't you remember?" Reanna asked, worried. Harry shook his head.  
"I was probably delirious when you explained it to me, and I don't  
remember anything that has happened over the past, er, how long?" Harry  
asked.  
"Two weeks." Reanna said promptly. "All right, here we go. Do you  
remember how Vernon backed off after I yelled at him?" She asked, Harry  
shrugged. "That's right, you wouldn't remember would you. Well, he did,  
and the reason was quite interesting. Sirius and Remus told me that my  
magic ability has been bottled up for so long that when I lost my temper it  
finally exploded. I'm not sure what I did but there was a choking charm on  
him and a bunch of other things. Since then I've been reading up on it and  
everything. It is quite interesting. I keep finding you in every book I  
read though." Harry laughed slightly.  
"Yeah, now you know." He said. He paused and thought for a moment.  
"I just thought of something." Then shook his head.  
"What?" Reanna asked.  
"Er, I hate to bring it up, but, why were you allowed to stay here  
for so long? I'm sure, well, I'm sure that your parents wouldn't, er, have  
allowed it." Harry said, trying to put it nicely. Reanna laughed.  
"You don't need to tone the dig against my parents down." She said,  
teasing him. "Remus and I called them and he got a bit angry with them. I  
guess they got their usual attitude with me. The 'whatever, we don't care'  
attitude. Frankly, I think it worked out for the best. Remus said that I  
was staying here the rest of the summer, and this year I'm going to  
Hogwarts."  
"That's great!" Harry said, sitting up a bit more. Pain flashed  
through him once more. He grimaced, remembering that he was not yet fully  
healed. "So you're going to help me drive Sirius up the wall this summer,  
right?" He grinned. Reanna grinned too, but there was something else  
hidden in her eyes.  
"Right." She sighed. "I'm sure he's glad that you're here to drive  
him up the wall though." Harry shifted uncomfortably. He was not used to  
that kind of thing. Reanna's eyes glittered. "So, I suppose we can really  
drive him nuts."  
"Oh!" Harry said, settling back down in his pillows. "What about what  
we pulled off in first grade?"  
"Those will be good." Reanna agreed. "But I do have some new ideas."  
She leaned closer, and the two started trading the plans in whispers.  
About half an hour later, they were still whispering. They  
completely forgot about the past few weeks when Harry had been near death,  
and were instead brought back to when they were young children playing  
pranks on the others. They completely forgot that Sirius and Remus were  
asleep in the same room until they discussed how they would put their plans  
into action.  
"Well, why don't I lead Sirius over here." Harry whispered, pointing  
to a paper she had drawn.  
"No, that would be too obvious, he would expect something to be  
coming." Reanna said, frowning slightly.  
"What about Remus, what are we going to do to him?" Harry asked,  
laughing silently.  
"Oh, we'll take care of him with Sirius." Reanna giggled.  
"Did I hear my name over here?"  
Reanna and Harry both jumped. Reanna turned around and found Sirius  
next to them and laughing. His blue eyes glittered with mischief, but they  
turned to concern when they turned to Harry.  
"How are you feeling?" Sirius asked, worry was evident in his voice.  
"Much better." Harry told him.  
It was true. His voice was still hoarse and there were still a few  
pains, but he felt better then he had in a long time. Sirius looked at him  
and decided he was being truthful. He sighed and sat back in a chair, then  
ran a hand through his hair. Harry looked at him when Sirius suddenly  
swept him into a large hug. Surprised, Harry awkwardly hugged him back.  
He heard Reanna get up and leave, obviously realizing that they wanted a  
private moment.  
"God, I was so afraid that I had lost you." Sirius whispered, holding  
him closer. Harry did not know what to say, but Sirius was not expecting  
an answer. "Even after you pulled through, I was so afraid." It sounded  
like he was near tears.  
"I wasn't afraid to die, Sirius." Harry said softly. He felt Sirius  
shake his head slightly.  
"If you had it would have been too soon." He whispered.  
Harry felt confused at this answer. He felt himself shrug  
absentmindedly, only to have Sirius hug him harder. The confusion  
increased. Years with the Dursleys had blocked all feelings of affection  
out. He knew that Sirius and Remus were to be trusted, but he did not  
remember any affection from either. Not completely remembering how Remus  
and Sirius cared for him when he was sick the past weeks, Harry wondered  
where this sudden burst of affection came from. As though reading his  
thoughts, Sirius spoke.  
"You're the world to me." He whispered brokenly. "I don't know what I  
would have done if I had lost you." There was a slight pause, as though  
Sirius were debating whether to put into words what he was saying. "I love  
you."  
Feeling the barrier against his emotions go down for the first time  
since before he could remember, Harry hugged his godfather back hard. He  
was crying. He did not care that he was showing his emotions, Sirius would  
not care. Almost afraid, Harry let the words that had never slipped out of  
his mouth before come.  
"I love you too, Sirius." He whispered. Then he smiled. Sirius had  
drawn out of the hug, and he looked at him.  
"What?" He asked. Harry shook his head.  
"It's just I've never said that to anyone before, or heard it said to  
me." He said quietly. Sirius frowned, his eyes mixing with sorrow and  
anger.  
"Your parents told you that they loved you every day, you know." He  
said quietly, looking at him hard. "And Remus and I did as often as we saw  
you." He smiled. "And your parents still love you, but I think you already  
know that."  
"I do Sirius, I do." Harry said.  
He smiled as Reanna poked her head back in a sat down by them. He  
yawned, still drained and hurting. Sirius and Reanna had gotten into a  
conversation, so they did not notice when he drifted off to sleep.  
"So what is this surprise?" Harry grumbled as Reanna helped him down  
the stairs.  
"You'll see." Reanna said, her eyes sparkling. "I'm not technically  
supposed to know about it, but I found out."  
It was about a week since he had fully woken up and he had been  
finally allowed out of bed a couple of days before. As soon as he was up  
that day, Reanna had bounced in and said to come downstairs into the  
garden. When Harry had asked why, she told him it was a surprise.  
Reanna had insisted on helping him to the garden. Harry did not  
protest as he was still slightly achy and tired. He still got dizzy spells  
sometimes, but they usually passed quickly. He still had to be careful  
about being up and about for long periods of time, though. Now however, he  
was feeling quite fresh with Reanna helping him, and was eager to find out  
what the surprise was. Reanna had hinted that he should know what day it  
was, but he did not remember.  
"Sirius and Remus said there were a few more surprises that I did not  
know about either." Reanna said as they made their way through the living  
room.  
Harry had found out that they were at Remus' house, a place called  
the Iron Gate Den. It was actually quite nice despite his being poor. It  
seemed that Remus had enough to support a nice little cottage through the  
donations he got for being under wage. It was a cozy place, with a few  
moving pictures on the walls, and an enchanted closet that locked every  
once in a while. Harry liked the room in which he and Reanna were staying  
in, which was painted green and the paint would shift to show a picture of  
something. He had already watched the wall for hours as it shifted and  
changed like clouds in the sky.  
"Get ready." Reanna told him as they were about to enter the garden.  
Harry looked at her, puzzled, but in a minute his questions were answered.  
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The shout met them as they went into the sunlit  
garden with beautiful emerald green plants.  
"Wha-?" Harry started, and his mouth dropped. Banners were enchanted  
to float above them, all donning the words "Happy Birthday Harry and  
Reanna." Balloons and streamers of all different colors floated in the air  
and party noise makers sounded. Harry looked around and saw bunches of  
people. Ron and Hermione were grinning at them. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were  
there, along with Fred and George, Ginny, Bill, Charlie, and even Percy.  
They were all standing in front of a court table that was piled with  
presents and a humongous cake. At first when he saw everyone, he was  
startled, but he controlled his panic, scolding himself that there was no  
reason to be afraid of the people he already knew. Standing right in front  
and wearing matching grins as they watched the two teens, were Remus and  
Sirius.  
"I think we gave Harry a heart attack, I'm not sure." George  
Weasley's voice rang out, and Harry turned red. He turned to Reanna.  
"You knew about this, didn't you?" He accused, speaking so that only  
she could hear. Reanna grinned, her eyes alight with mischief.  
"I couldn't tell you, and I only found out when I heard Sirius  
talking about it. And he said that it should be a surprise for at least  
one of us." She laughed.  
"Well come on, you two, come open your presents!" Ron said, dragging  
them forward. Harry felt quite embarrassed seated in front of everyone.  
He usually hated being the center of attention, but at least Reanna was the  
center as well.  
"Are they all labeled to both of us, or are there any separate ones?"  
Reanna questioned, looking at each label. She picked the one from Ron up,  
and between them they got the paper off. "Oh, how beautiful Ron!" Reanna  
exclaimed. Then after a pause, "What is it?" There were two watch-like-  
things with different symbols and such on them, but as to what it was it  
was neither of them had a clue.  
Ron laughed, and Hermione burst into explanation. "They are watches  
that will tell you where certain people that you program in are, and what  
they are doing. Also, it tells you what direction you are going, where you  
are, the temperature at the time, it has a built in voice exchanger between  
the two, and it does everything except tell the time." She said in one  
breath.  
"It doesn't tell the time?" Harry asked, he raised his voice above  
the low voice that he had used around other people since the beginning of  
the summer.  
"There wasn't anymore room for the clock." She said. Then she  
continued. "I came up with the idea, because I thought you would find them  
to come in handy." She beamed. "But Ron bought them."  
"Wow, thanks Ron." Harry said. Reanna nodded.  
"Yeah, thanks." She said.  
Hermione's present turned out to be predictably: books. Surprisingly  
they were not school books though. There were four books on wildlife in  
the Muggle and Magical world. "Reanna told me that she was interested in  
animals, and she said that you were too. I never knew that." Hermione  
said.  
"Be careful when you open ours." Fred said as Harry picked it up.  
"Yeah, I think something exploded when we wrapped it." George said.  
Reanna moved away from the package as Harry laughed.  
As guessed, they found a full set of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. There  
was everything from their first inventions, to recipes to make new ones,  
and some that had not been tried out yet. Harry grinned slyly and passed  
Reanna a treat out of the box, but Reanna hurriedly shook her head.  
"I can already tell I don't trust those two." She said. Harry  
grinned.  
By this time the only presents left were the ones from Remus and  
Sirius. However, the table was empty. Reanna and Harry exchanged glances,  
and looked at the two. The men both grinned.  
"We couldn't find a way to wrap ours, so we are just going to give  
them to you." Sirius said, and he brought something out from behind the  
bench. He gave it to them. "Here, you may find this interesting."  
Reanna and Harry exchanged another glance. It was papers. Harry  
pushed his glasses further up his nose and read them aloud. "Two people  
share a birthday today, and that is why we are here to honor it. However,  
though they think that they share this day out of coincidence, there is  
much more to it then that. On July 31, 1980, Lily Evans-Potter gave birth  
to not one, but two beautiful children. Reanna Lillian Potter, and Harry  
James Potter." Harry suddenly found it hard to speak, so Reanna continued  
for him. Her voice shook slightly as she read.  
"So it is today that we tell them, that though they have been the  
best of friends for as long as they can remember, we think it only fair  
that we tell them the truth. Neither is an only child, they are twins.  
Furthermore, because Lily and James Potter left these two at the time  
children in my, Sirius Black's, care, if anything were to happen to them,  
they will find papers for legal adoption on the next few pages. Happy  
Birthday! Signed, Sirius Black." Reanna and Harry stared at it a minute,  
then looked at Sirius.  
"But Sirius, how." Harry asked.  
"Read a few pages on, the surprises aren't over yet." Sirius prompted  
gently.  
Harry took the paper once more and found the last page. "Official  
Pardon from the Ministry of Magic! This paper states that through the  
confession of Peter Pettigrew under Veratism, and the clear evidence that  
Sirius Black, once accused of murder, is pardoned from all crimes  
previously accused. Signed, Minister Fudge." Harry sat, looking a bit like  
a fish by the expression on his face. Reanna looked amazed.  
"One more," Remus said, "here's mine."  
"What more could there be?" Reanna asked faintly, but they took the  
paper and read it aloud.  
"Sirius Black, godfather of Reanna and Harry Potter, has asked I,  
Remus Lupin, to be a second godfather, as what he calls 'back up for the  
back up'. However, the law states that for a," Harry stopped and looked  
and Remus, wondering if he wanted him to say this aloud. Remus nodded.  
"That for a werewolf to be a guardian or second guardian of minors old  
enough to understand what the papers mean, which I am sure you both are,"  
Harry caught a laugh at this, as Remus muttered "Although.", "both minors  
must sign a paper that they agree." Stunned, Harry and Reanna looked at the  
two men.  
"So, will you sign the papers?" Sirius asked tentatively, looking at  
his godchildren. Harry and Reanna exchanged a glance.  
"Of course!" They chorused.  
"Can we eat cake first?" Fred yelled out, laughter followed his  
comment.  
"Why don't we take care of this afterward?" Reanna asked, setting the  
papers in a safe spot.  
Harry grinned as Sirius began to dole out large pieces of lemon cake,  
making Reanna's and Harry's the largest. Although Harry did not finish  
even near the whole piece of cake, Reanna and Ron finished it for him.  
Somewhere in the middle when everyone was talking about other things,  
Reanna caught Harry's eye. Their thoughts were the same. For both of them  
this was the best birthday they had ever had.  
Harry sighed contentedly as he listened to the others talk. He was  
sure that these surprises were the first in many to come. They were  
wonderful, he had never dreamed that Reanna was his twin, but it did  
explain why they had such a strong connection. Their guardian was now  
Sirius, the best guardian they could ask for. They would never have to go  
back to their abusive homes. Harry grinned as Reanna pulled him up for the  
games, and Harry followed.  
  
A/N - I have to thank my first reviewer on this story: Kris. I'm glad you  
like it, and thank you for taking your time to review. 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
That night, Sirius, Reanna, and Harry squished themselves onto the  
sofa, and Remus sat on the comfy chair. Everyone had left a few hours  
earlier, but everyone but Harry had spent the last few hours cleaning up.  
Harry had spent them napping upstairs. He had wanted to help clean, as it  
was his and Reanna's surprise party, but he was told that he had not yet  
fully recovered and was sent to bed. He was rather glad for it now.  
They were talking about Sirius' and Remus' presents, and the amount  
of surprise from Harry and Reanna. Sirius had the other three in fits of  
laughter at his imitation of Harry when he saw the papers. He made his  
eyes bug out, and his mouth hang loose, while staring at an invisible  
something in his hand. Reanna giggled even harder when Sirius did an  
impression of her.  
"I would do an impression of what you two sounded like, but I'm  
afraid I'll kill you from laughter." Sirius said, grinning. There was  
another burst of laughter from Remus, Harry, and Reanna. When they finally  
calmed down, Harry was about to ask a question that had been bothering his  
subconscious all day, but Reanna beat him to it.  
"Sirius?" She asked. "Can I ask you something about Harry and I?"  
"Ask away." Sirius said, turning toward them.  
"Well, you told me what happened on the night our parents died, but."  
She trailed off, wondering how to put it.  
"But how did Voldemort not notice that Reanna was in the house as  
well, and when I remember it why does Mum only say anything about me?"  
Harry finished for her.  
"That's about it." Reanna said, smiling at him. Sirius made his  
mouth in an "o".  
"Well, that's just it." Sirius started, then stopped and started  
over. "You see, you, Reanna, weren't in the house at the time. Only you,  
Harry, were." Reanna and Harry looked even more confused.  
"My gosh, Sirius!" Remus exclaimed. "Can't you explain anything  
without confusing the people you're trying to explain it to?"  
"No." Sirius said sheepishly.  
"Right then." Remus said, and started to explain. "Your parents had a  
tip to when Voldemort was probably going to show up. So, they thought it  
would be safer if you two would be in separate places, preferably at Muggle  
houses." He paused then continued. "What was originally going to happen was  
that Reanna, was going to stay at Mr. and Mrs. Pierce's house, and Harry,  
was going to stay with Hagrid, which although he is of course not a Muggle,  
he lived on Hogwarts grounds. What ended up happening, though, was that  
Mrs. Pierce picked Reanna up, and Lily thought Hagrid would be on his way.  
Before he got there however, well, I think you know the rest."  
"So I just stayed with my pa-," She stopped, "that is, with Mr. and  
Mrs. Pierce?"  
"Obviously." Sirius said, grinning. Reanna stuck her tongue out at  
him.  
"The plan originally was that Sirius would take you both." Remus  
explained, ignoring the two. "Of course as you know that is not what  
happened. Dumbledore decided that it was best for you to be separated, for  
safety reasons. No one except Sirius, myself, and Wormtail knew that James  
and Lily had two children. For all everyone knew and, except for a few  
people now, still know is that there is only Harry, and for that matter I'm  
not sure why it is anyone's business."  
"You know Harry, that reminds me of something I thought of for when  
we go to school." Reanna said grinning.  
"Uh-oh." Harry muttered, while Sirius said, "What?"  
"Sorry Sirius, you can't know. You'll have to find out when it  
comes." Reanna said, grinning at her guardian. "Come on Harry, let's go up  
to your room and discuss."  
"Wait a minute, there's something else." Sirius said, before they  
could get up. The two stopped.  
"What?" They chorused.  
"Once Harry has fully recovered," Sirius said.  
"I have." Harry muttered. Sirius glanced at him.  
"Once Trinity, not Harry, says that he has fully recovered," Sirius  
continued, "We all, Remus included, are going to be moving into my old  
house. However, I need to ask you, would you prefer separate rooms, or  
would you prefer to have one room that can be separated by a sheet or magic  
barrier for privacy reasons?" Harry and Reanna looked at each other and  
grinned.  
"We'll share," Harry said.  
"As long as we can have that barrier." Reanna finished.  
"Right then, you guys can go." Sirius said and waved them off.  
They hurried upstairs, although Harry was being supported heavily by  
Reanna. Sirius smiled as he watched them and noticed Remus doing the same.  
He grinned at his friend and two shared thoughts came to the two. One was  
that they definitely acted like twins and that they were definitely James  
and Lily's children. The other was dessert.  
Harry and Reanna sat on the bed, talking about things they had done  
when they were younger. Memories were wonderful to relive, they decided,  
as long as they were good. They seemed to share each others thoughts too,  
and sometimes one would only grin and the other would know what they were  
thinking. They had always had that strong connection, but it had been  
explained that day. Harry thought of this, and remembered something he had  
forgotten to say.  
"He rolled down that hill so fast, I thought he was going to break  
something!" Reanna laughed, then stopped when she noticed Harry had become  
serious suddenly. "What is it?" She questioned, concerned. "Are you all  
right?"  
"I'm fine but, Reanna." Harry paused, then put his thoughts in the  
easiest words possible. "Thank you." He blurted out. Reanna looked  
confused.  
"What?"  
"Thank you, for, well I guess for everything." Harry said, looking at  
her.  
"Oh Harry, you don't need to thank me." Reanna exclaimed.  
"Wait." Harry said, stopping her. "Yes I do. You've always been  
there for me, and I don't think you realize how much that's meant to me.  
Remember when we were little? You always used to save my neck when Dudley  
would gang up on me after a beating. And later, you were always there for  
me when I was upset. You were always there for me no matter what. There  
have been times when I don't know how I could have survived, it was you  
that gave me the courage to stand up to my uncle even a little. It was you  
who sneaked your first aid kit out of the house when we were ten years old,  
and tried to cover everything with bandages. Most of all, I want to thank  
you for saving my life." He swallowed, but in the pause he noticed that  
Reanna still did not speak. She was looking at him, tears shining in her  
eyes. His eyes avoided hers as he said, "If you hadn't gotten Sirius and  
Remus that day I would probably be dead now. Thank you, for saving my life  
and for always being there for me."  
"Oh Harry." Reanna whispered, a tear running down her cheek. She  
wiped it away and took his hand gently in hers. "You don't need to thank me  
for that. I was just doing what any real friend would do. You deserved  
the help, after all that you had been through."  
"But you didn't have to do anything. That's why I'm thanking you.  
For being you." Harry said, and he squeezed her hand in a brotherly  
fashion. He brushed a tear from his face hurriedly, not wanting her to see  
him cry. Then he smiled. "Come on, let's get off this dreary topic and  
start making some plans for pranks. We've got the Weasleys Wizarding  
Wheezes now."  
"Oh! We have to test those new products on Sirius and Remus." Reanna  
said, her eyes, now dry of tears, dancing.  
"Kids, dessert!" Sirius shouted. Reanna and Harry grinned.  
"Speaking of which." Harry said, and he laughed.  
"Here put these drops in your pockets. It says that one drop will  
turn the person a color to suit their personality, or their mood, and it  
will last for up to two hours." Reanna laughed, and she stuffed her own  
pockets with another trick treat. Quickly, they headed downstairs.  
"How did you know Chocolate-Chip Cookie Dough was our favorite type  
of ice cream?" Reanna asked suspiciously as Remus set large bowls in front  
of them.  
"It has been in your family for generations." Sirius said, grinning  
at the twins. Harry and Reanna exchanged glances.  
"You would know that how?" Harry asked.  
"Potters and Blacks have always been friends, not just your father  
and I." Sirius told them.  
"It goes along with Potters and Malfoys not getting along, although  
I'm not sure if that did not just start last generation." Remus said.  
"Hm." Reanna said, "Well, I hope mints run in everyone's family,  
because we just happen to have some." Harry brought them out of his pocket  
and handed them out.  
"Where did you get those?" Sirius asked. Harry grinned.  
"I sneaked them out of the fridge when I was making dinner at the  
beginning of the summer." He said. "Aunt Petunia never knew the difference,  
she thought Dudley ate them."  
"If you hadn't taken them he probably would have." Reanna said, then  
she muttered, "Not that he needed the extra pounds." Harry snickered.  
About five minutes later, after watching Reanna and Harry argue about  
him eating all of his ice-cream ("I never thought someone would try to  
force me to eat my dessert." Harry had said), everyone popped their mints  
into their mouths. Almost immediately Reanna and Harry had to force  
themselves to not laugh, as Remus and Sirius were turning different colors  
of blue and pink. As soon as Remus looked at Sirius, however, he burst out  
laughing.  
"What?" Sirius asked, when he caught sight of the blue Remus. In  
turn, he roared with laughter.  
"You-You're pink!" Remus sputtered, while Reanna and Harry  
desperately tried not to giggle.  
"I'm pink?" Sirius asked, touching his hair. His laughter stopped,  
but it began again immediately. "Well, you're blue!"  
"At least that's better then p-pink!" Remus laughed. Reanna finally  
lost control and burst out laughing at the two of them. Harry now was  
having trouble keeping a straight face. Both men looked at them.  
"Which one of you was it?" Sirius asked, keeping a straight face  
quite well. Harry shifted a bit, thinking his godfather was angry, but  
when he saw the sparkle in his eyes he relaxed.  
"I'm sure it was Reanna, Harry wouldn't hand out his own trick."  
Remus said, also keeping a straight face. Harry bit his lip so he wouldn't  
laugh, and Reanna did the same. They exchanged a glance.  
"Us?" Reanna asked, looking quite innocent now.  
"Why in the world would you suspect us?" Harry asked in mock horror.  
He caught Reanna's eye.  
"Like they don't even trust us." Reanna sighed sadly. Harry shook  
his head.  
"Our own guardians." He said.  
"Just like all adults," Reanna said.  
"Not trusting at all," Harry nodded.  
"We thought you were better then that," Reanna told them.  
"Thought you were at our level," Harry sighed.  
"But I guess not." Reanna said.  
"If you think we put something in our own guardians' mints," Harry  
said.  
"Can't believe you don't trust us." Reanna said, and they both sighed  
and shook their heads. Sirius and Remus were grinning.  
"Kids these days," Sirius started mournfully.  
"Trying to trick adults." Remus sighed.  
"Their own guardians," Sirius said, shaking his head.  
"No respect." Remus said.  
"They should know." Sirius said in a taunting voice.  
"They should know." Remus said.  
"Kids these days." Sirius said again.  
"No respect." Remus agreed.  
"You'd think they'd know us better." Sirius said, and they both bowed  
their heads.  
"Harry, I do believe we have competition." Reanna said, grinning.  
"And that was with being without practice for years." Sirius told  
them.  
"Don't forget, you get that trait from James." Remus told the two.  
"But we have all of his strategies, plus our own." Sirius said.  
"Why do they remind me of us?" Harry asked. Reanna shook her head in  
amazement.  
"Years of practice, years of practice." Sirius told them, grinning.  
"Don't forget, you're still pink." Reanna said sweetly.  
"And, we have pictures, and a video." Harry said, holding up a camera  
that Reanna had given him. Sirius' jaw dropped.  
"Two of the Rotters, have outsmarted the Marauders." Harry and  
Reanna said, and they grinned at each other.  
"The Rotters?" Sirius asked in disbelief.  
"Yeah, we came up with it when we were little, and it has stuck ever  
since." Harry said, shrugging.  
"I won't ask." Sirius muttered.  
"Who are the others?" Remus asked, interested. "You said that 'two of  
the Rotters' outsmarted us."  
"We recruited Ron and the twins at the party today." Reanna said,  
grinning. "So now there are 'Rotters Reeling Rabble-Rousers' and 'Weasley  
Wizarding Wheezes'." She smiled sweetly. "Did you ever have anything?"  
"In fact we did," Sirius said, quickly. "We had the Marauders  
Mischief Makers."  
"You just made that up!" Harry protested.  
"Maybe, maybe not." Sirius said, grinning with all his teeth. "Unless  
you get a time machine you'll never know."  
"And if you did not, what kind of things did you make?" Reanna asked,  
putting on her sweet attitude again.  
"Er, uh." Sirius stuttered. "Er, I can't remember right now."  
"My point is proven." Reanna said, and winked at Harry. Sirius chose  
this time to glance at his watch, which had also turned pink.  
"My gosh it's late!" He exclaimed. "Harry you should have been in bed  
half an hour ago, you need your rest." Not wanting to argue, Harry got up  
with Reanna, and they went upstairs. When they were settled in their own  
beds, he and Reanna began to talk quietly.  
"This was probably the best birthday I've ever had." Reanna sighed.  
"I agree." Harry said. He smiled. "It was so nice of Sirius and  
Remus to organize that for us."  
"That's what people do when they care about someone." Reanna said  
gently.  
"I guess I found that out." Harry laughed. He leaned back and closed  
his eyes. "Reanna? Remember when we were little and you used to sing that  
song?"  
"Yeah." She said.  
"Could you sing it please?" He heard a small laugh.  
"Sure." Slowly she began to sing in her beautiful voice.  
When the wind blows through your door,  
You don't to have to look too far,  
Friends surround you all around,  
Better life will come tomorrow.  
Sing the song I sing today,  
Call my name when you're in need,  
Anyone will hear the sound,  
They will come to where you are.  
Things can only get better.  
Though your life is hard and cruel,  
People care 'bout who you are,  
The road to life is rocky,  
But someday it will be smooth.  
Slowly the bird stretch her neck,  
Feathers all tattered and brown,  
When she is grown, we all know,  
She will become a swan.  
Things can only get better.  
Yes, things can only get better.  
Ooo-hhh, things can onl-y get.be-etter.  
Harry was asleep before she finished. Reanna smiled. It was good  
that he was finally in a home where he was cared about, and treated well.  
Sirius and Remus would always love them, and although Reanna knew that, it  
might take a little to persuade Harry the same. He was somewhat jumpy and  
insecure, but she knew that with work Sirius, Remus, her, and others could  
gain his complete trust, and help him trust people again. Reanna turned  
out the light and fell asleep with a smile on her lips. Things can only  
get better.  
  
A/N - It's finished! The sequel is already in process, I'll be uploading  
the first few chapters soon. However, I have major writer's block right  
now, right in the middle of my fifth chapter. This next one will be  
hopefully much longer, and I hope I have improved my writing skills on it  
as well. Thank you Kris, my one and only reviewer! I hope all of you who  
read this story enjoyed it, and I hope you read my next one. Thank you! 


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